Gundam Wing - Shattered Dreams
by Gunkatas
Summary: After Colony 197. Mankind has once again found peace, thanks to the efforts of the 5 Gundam Pilots and their allies. All Mobile Suits are about to be destroyed, when a chance discovery on Mars halts this decision. This discovery lets Humans finally leave the Solar system and paves a new road, for all mankind. For humanity has found: Mass Effect.
1. Chapter 1 - Timeline

AN:

Hello!

Thank you for clicking on my story and deciding to take time to read it. I've been wanting to write a story for FF for a while, but only had time/inclination to do so only recently. Before you read though I have to give a bit of warning:

 **I have no guarantee that I will finish this story.**

I don't, I just can't guarantee it. I plan on this story to be about 7-10 chapters long, just based on how everything is worked out in my head. This story will only cover first contact, does not go into the first game. Each game will probably get its own story. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

This is AU post Endless Waltz. Actually, AU post Wing Zero blowing up the Presidential palace. You'll see why below.

The title is something that took me a few days to come up with. I was always impressed with the title that the creators had: Endless Waltz, Frozen Teardrops, Battlefield of the Pacifists, etc. So I wanted to come up with a name that would follow that. Shattered Dreams was what I came up with, and if I get far enough into the story (I hope I do), I should be able to explain why I chose this title, much like how Mariemaia explained in universe the meaning of 'Endless Waltz.'

So, this is my first story. I have no Beta and basically proofread this myself. How? I read the story over about 20 times after it was done. Over and over and over and over again. It was exhausting. Made me realize how hard it is to write a quality story. The story itself took about a week and a half to write, 2-4 hours per day. A lot of editing was done to make everything flow, and I'm still not 100% satisfied with the end product. More like 98.5% satisfied. Had to edit a lot to make sure everything fit. God I hope the formatting isn't too messed up.

Anyways, feel free to Review after reading.

Peace

Gunkatas

* * *

Timeline

AC 195 – Events of Gundam Wing

Christmas AC 196 – Events of Endless Waltz

February AC 197 – Members of the Mars Terraform project find ancient alien ruins after a Meteorite strikes the planet. News spreads to the rest of humanity on Earth and on the Colonies, halting the destruction of Mobile Suits due to security concerns. Members of the Preventers Forces stationed on Mars travel to the uncovered ruins. Once it is deemed safe, scientist and archaeologist are brought in to study any technology and discover information that may have been left behind.

Lucrecia Noin is selected to lead the team due to her exemplary service record. Zechs Marquise goes deeper into hiding.

May AC197 – Wing Zero is fully salvaged. Repairs have not yet begun, as an estimated 60% of the Mobile Suit has been destroyed. Heavy Arms, Sand Rock, Deathscythe and Altron Gundams are all repaired to 100% functionality, as are the Tallgeese III and the personal Taurus of Lucrecia Noin. Remaining Serpent suits are put into storage under heavy guard, but are ready to be re-activated and deployed at a moment's notice. At this point, the Earth Sphere Unified Nations decide to give a blanket amnesty to those soldiers who joined Mariemaia's army. The leaders and plotters are tried and sentenced to life in prison, although it is believed that not all of them have been caught.

Rumors that Zechs Marquise is alive and in hiding start to circulate on Mars once it is revealed that Lucrecia Noin is pregnant.

Reconstruction is completed on the Presidential Palace and Bunker, as well as the city where the first and last battle of the coup attempt took place.

July AC197 – Researchers discover that the aliens who built the ruins are known as Protheans. It is revealed that the ruins are in excess of 50,000 years old, and was used as a research station to observe ancient humans. Panic erupts throughout both Earth and the Colonies. It is only after a speech asking for calm is given by Vice Foreign Minister Relena Darlian that people begin to relax.

After a lengthy debate lasting several weeks, it is decided that Mobile Suits will once again be created as the first line of defense for Humanity. Emphasis is put on enhancing and producing the Taurus mobile suits, as both the military and civilian leadership determine that a space mobility fighter would be able to fend off assaults from space better than ground based Mobile Suits. However, Mobile Doll suits remain controversial, and it is decided to halt any production for the foreseeable future. Lady Une is believed to be the only person who currently has a complete copy of the Mobile Doll OS.

Element Zero (Eezo) is discovered in the Prothean Ruins, as well as blueprints to an Element Zero core and engine.

September AC197 – The first Human Space Ship with an Eezo core is built by the Winner Corporation. It is named the Earth Sphere Navy _New Destiny_. Researchers also discover that an FTL device known as a Mass Relay is orbiting Pluto. Ships are sent to find the device.

One thousand Taurus Mk II Mobile Suits are built, as have roughly 200 Leo Mobile Suits. The Mk II suits have been designed to work both in Space and in Earth's atmosphere without any modifications needed. Aries Mobile Suits are considered obsolete by the new redesign of the Taurus, with surviving units used to train new recruits. Most Taurus suits are deployed to protect the colonies, although 200 are deployed on earth itself. All Leo suits are deployed on Earth, as are the remaining Serpent suits. Serpent suits have been re-painted and deployed to protect major government institutions, such as the Parliament Building and Preventers Headquarters. Due to training constraints, the majority of the Mobile suits are manned by soldiers who fought in Mariemaia's army. The Mobile Suit units are folded into the Preventers program.

Lucrecia Noin returns to earth due to her pregnancy. Sally Po is assigned to lead the Mars Research team while her partner, Wufei Chang, is in charge of security.

October AC197 – Ships finally reach Pluto. Deep scanning of Charon accidentally activates the Mass Relay buried under the ice. After 3 days, the Mass Relay is fully exposed and Charon no longer exists. All ships keep their distance as it is unknown if their ships are compatible with the device.

At this point in time, it is decided to rebuild Wing Zero. As they have the most knowledge of the Gundams after the pilots themselves, the Sweeper Group is in charge of rebuilding Wing Zero as well as maintaining the other Gundams in existence.

November AC197 – Zechs Marquise is discovered on Mars and arrested without resistance. He is brought to earth to begin his trial for starting the Eve War.

5 more ships with an Eezo core have been completed, one of which is the ESN New Horizons, a cruiser size vessel and the first ship armed with a spinal mounted cannon powered by Element Zero, though traditional beam cannon turrets are still mounted on the New Horizon and the other 4 ships. It is decided that these 5 ships will travel through the Charon device after New Year day to scout the system that is on the other side.

Wing Zero is fully rebuilt.

December AC197 – Two years after declaring war against Earth and losing, Zechs Marquise is found guilty of attempted Genocide for his attempt to crash Libra onto the planet. All other charges are dropped, as it was argued that though he led White Fang during the final phase of the rebellion, it was others such as Quinze and the Barton foundation that financed and planned the takeover, as well as the declaration of war against earth itself. During the sentencing, a video recording was shown to the court of Epyon detonating the power generator of the Libra section that was falling to earth. When asked why he did so, Zechs merely replied "I lost." When asked to clarify, he stated "The winner of a duel doesn't die to right the mistakes of the loser." After this, as well as the revelation that he is also the blood brother of Relena Darlian, he is sentenced to 6 years imprisonment. Critics decry the sentencing, saying that it is too lax, and that he is getting preferential treatment due to his relationship to the Former Queen of the World Relena Peacecraft. When it is revealed that it was he who was piloting Tallgeese III during the Mariemaia Coup attempt, the critics die down. Lucrecia Noin gives birth to twins and Zechs is allowed to visit his children before starting his sentence.

15 more ships are completed, 7 Frigates, 4 Cruisers, and 4 Destroyers. It was discovered during testing that while the Mass Effect canon can fire more often than a beam cannon of comparable power draw, power output of the beam cannon on ships above cruiser weight exceeds that of a Mass Effect canon. Mass effect cannons are put on Frigate class ships, but only as a Secondary weapon.

January AC198 – Enough Mobile suits have been built to adequately protect both the Colonies and Earth. Each Colony gets 300 Taurus Mobile Suits, as well as 25 LEO suits to act as a last line of defense inside the colony proper. Production of LEO suits is halted while a new design for a mass produced ground based Mobile Suit is created.

Final preparations are completed for the 5 ships to travel through the Charon Relay. The 5 Ships, led by Captain Jon Grissom, are loaded with 5 years' worth of supplies for the crew as it is unknown if there is a way back. Each of the 4 Frigates is loaded with a platoon of soldiers, as well as 4 Taurus suits. The Cruiser _New Horizons_ has a full company of soldiers and 7 Taurus suits. The last Mobile suit comes as a surprise to the entire expedition, as it is Deathscythe. Morale is greatly improved at the knowledge that a Gundam would be joining them on the expedition, though the crew is curious as to whom exactly the pilot is. It is also revealed that a Priest would be among the crew of the cruiser, in order to provide moral guidance and raise the spirits of those aboard.

30 more ships are completed, though only half have Eezo cores due to lack of Element Zero available in the Sol system.

February AC198 – The 5 ships travel through the Mass Relay. All contact is immediately lost, and the worst is feared. 4 days later, the Mass Relay activates again returning one of the expedition Frigates. It is revealed that the relay transported them to the region known as Arcturus, approximately 36 light years away. However, the relay on the other side pointing back to earth was deactivated and encased in rock. The expedition immediately re-activated the Mass Relay and waited for the debris to clear. One Frigate was to monitor the Relay while the other ships began to explore the region. It was discovered to be a region rich in Resource Satellites, as well as several other uncovered Mass Relays, including one that is 15 Kilometers in length. Realizing the potential of such an area, half of the ships currently guarding earth and the colonies are ordered to travel through the Mass Relay to secure Arcturus and explore what is on the other side of the Mass Relays located there.

Designs for a new type of Ground based mobile suit are completed and the first prototype is built. Heavily influenced by the Gundams, 01 in particular, the RX-79 (G) Mobile Suit is jokingly called the Ground Gundam as the designer is a self-avowed fan of the Gundam suits. At this point in time, the number of Soldiers and Pilots start to swell to a number unmanageable to the Preventers, and Lady Une request that the Military be started again, separate from the Preventers. This request is approved by the ESUN parliament, and the Earth Sphere Unified Nations Defense Force is created, with one branch dedicated to infantry (Marines) and one dedicated to the Navy (Sailors), each having their own Mobile Suit Divisions. The Preventers remain separate from the Military, acting as both the Intelligence Division and Federal Police of the ESUN, with their own force of Mobile Suit pilots.

March AC198 – Testing is completed on the RX-79 (G) Mobile Suit. It has proven to be faster, more maneuverable, more energy efficient and more durable than the venerated Leo. Due to the improved power source, the Beam Rifle is the default weapon of the RX-79 and all Mobile Suits going forward. They start to phase out the Leo suits in active units, with the Leo suits going into either going into storage or used in the training of new recruits.

Ships pass through the other Mass Relays and discover Garden Worlds ready for human habitation. The decision is made to colonize those worlds, and to better govern they would need to be closer to the worlds themselves. Parliament decides to move government headquarters to Arcturus.

Design and construction of Arcturus station begins in the Sol system.

April AC198 – Construction on Arcturus station is completed and researchers find a way to move Arcturus Station as well as 3 newly built colonies to Arcturus, using the Mobile Doll Planetary Defense system combined with Element Zero to create a harmonic Element Zero field that covers the entire station without using ludicrous amounts of Eezo. This has the added benefit of finding a way to shield both the colonies and Arcturus with barriers in case of attacks. However, the shields have to be lowered if something larger than a Mobile Suit wants to enter or exit the station, and the power draw is considerable.

At this time, it is discovered that there will not be enough soldiers available to fully protect all of humanity with the manpower available. Debate starts up again on beginning production of the Mobile Doll suits. After fiery rhetoric on both sides, Mobile Dolls are once again approved for production by a 4 vote majority. They are only allowed to be used defensively, and cannot travel more than 1000 Km from their base of operations whether that is a colony, space station or city.

Production begins on Virgo III Mobile Dolls.

June AC198 – Each Colony gets 200 Virgo III Mobile Dolls, replacing the equal number of Taurus suits that are redistributed to Arcturus and the increasing fleet.

Fearful of what may come through the other relays, Parliament is requested by the colonist at Arcturus to create a defense platform, similar to Barge and Libra. Heated debate starts throughout all the Colonies and Earth, as people remember that those battle stations were used to either suppress the Colonies or to attack Earth itself. Once again, human fear and paranoia win out and the request is approved, but only by a 1 vote majority. Design and construction begin on the new Fortress stations.

Garden worlds connected to Arcturus via the Mass Relays start to be colonized.

July AC198 – Due to the number of Colonist moving to new planets, exploration and expansion is halted in order to divert resources to building up the systems, as well as ensuring they are properly defended. Supply chain issues also start to appear, as Civilian Mass Effect powered ships are in short supply and high demand.

The first Dreadnaught is created for the ESUN Navy. The ESN Khushrenada is 1.2 Kilometers in length. It houses a Main Cannon with 1.5x the power output of the Buster Rifle used by Gundam 01, which is less than 1/3 of the power available to the Wing Zero Dual Buster Rifle.

Surviving Gundams are upgraded to be better suited to Front Line Fighting rather than Guerilla Tactics. Gundam 01, known as Wing, is rebuilt once again.

August AC198 – Space Fortress Titan is complete. Modeled after Barge, rather than Libra, it is a 4km long cylinder. Armed with two improved Noventa cannon, one on each 'face' of the station, multiple Beam Cannons and housing over 300 Taurus suits as well as 150 Mobile Doll suits, it provides enough firepower to defend a planetary system without being so overwhelming as to be suppressive to those it protects. The first Titan Class space fortress is moved to Arcturus to defend the station and the Colonies surrounding it. Construction begins on more Titan class stations.

Due to the amount of Forces that Titan Stations will command, as well as the fact that their role will be different than that of either the Marines or Navy, a third Military Branch is proposed. The Fortress Station Defense Force is created. Much like the Coast Guard of old, they are in charge of protecting the Space around each Colony. They hold no Ground forces, and their operating area is only the Space around the Planet and/or Colony they are guarding.

Space Colonies are being moved from their Lagrange points around Earth to new planetary systems, as Colony building has been slowed down due to fleet buildup, as well as construction of Titan class stations. As the move is both costly and difficult, only by a 2/3 majority vote of the Colonist themselves will the Colony be moved. The Colony also must pay half the moving cost, with the other half being financed by the ESUN itself. This is due to the knowledge that with Colonies in the system, it would be easier to mine and process the resources available in the asteroid fields and barren moons, as well as having a natural shipping port for resources taken from the planets themselves.

September AC198 – Protecting all the people in the new systems once again strains the man power of both the ESUN military and the Preventers. A proposal is created for man sized Mobile Doll units used to protect Bases and Colonies. A prototype is built modeled after the Leo suit and are dubbed Mini Dolls. With the programming modified from the Mobile Doll system, the Mini Dolls are rolled out to both space based and ground based Colonies, as well as Arcturus and Titan stations. With the exception of Arcturus, the Mini Dolls are stationed at the entrances to the Colonies only, such as Docking stations and Space Ports, and important government buildings such as the Governors mansions and police stations as well as Hospitals and Military Bases.

November AC198 – Each colonized system has 1 Titan Class Space Fortress guarding them, while Arcturus receives 3 and the Sol system has 5.

Expansion and exploration once again begins

Leo suits are fully phased out of active units. Most suits are either destroyed or sent to storage, while about 1/3 are instead sent to local planetary garrisons as backups and used as training tools due to their simplicity.

December AC198 – ESUN votes to change their name in the New Year to better reflect the status of Humanity. At this point in time, 5 planetary systems have been colonized. Another 10 have been discovered, 4 of them holding Garden Worlds. Plans are made to colonize the garden worlds, with the other resource rich areas getting Space Colonies for resource gathering.

AC199 – The Earth Sphere Unified Nations changes names to the Human Systems Alliance, reflecting that Earth is no longer the only planetary system humans live in.

Expansion proceeds steadily, financed by the increase in resources from the Extra Solar Colonies (ExSoCs).

AC200 – Shanxi is discovered but not colonized.

Vice Interior Minister Relena Darlian announces she is pregnant. People are overjoyed at the news. When asked who the father is, Relena states that the father is her husband and would like to remain anonymous. Surprised at the fact that Relena is married, a reporter asks the former Queen of the World when the ceremony was. She replies about a year ago, at a small private get together with her friends and family. Rumors explode all over the internet with the husband being anyone from one of the old families that supported Peacecrafts and Darlians throughout the years, to president of the Systems Alliance, to even her Blue eyed Brown haired personal bodyguard she was assigned in AC197.

AC201 – Relena Darlian gives birth to a boy. The name is withheld, citing that she wishes the child to grow up without the pressure of the media and the public.

Colonization begins on Shanxi. It is currently the furthest colony from the Sol system. As such, colonization and exploration of the surrounding space is slow going.

Taurus Mk III suit is created. When transformed, the triangular head folds to the back of the suit, exposing a second head modeled after the one on the Aries Mobile Suit, giving greater field of Vision at the cost of long range sensors being halved. It is also fitted with a Mass Effect core, allowing it to be more maneuverable as well as have basic barriers. This has the added benefit of allowing a single suit to be able to enter and exit the Gravity Well and Atmosphere of a planet without any extra assistance.

RX-79 (G) Mk II suit is created, adding a Mass Effect core to the MS. This allows better mobility and the use of shields. It also allows the Mk II suit to be dropped from orbit in specially designed pods for rapid insertion to planets. They will still need ships to return back to space.

Mobile Doll suits are not upgraded with Mass Effect cores, as they are designed to be defensive only compared to the other suits who have actual pilots, as well as already having a barrier system as part of their basic equipment.

The First Space Carrier is created. At 1.6 Km in length, it houses up to 80 Mobile Suits on 4 Decks. The tradeoff is that it lacks a main canon, having to instead rely on the Mobile Suits to be the offensive option in a fight. It also has numerous Beam Cannons for ship to ship combat should it be needed, as well as multiple Beam Gatling Guns to act as Anti-Missile and Anti-MS Defense. No Mobile Dolls are housed in the Carrier.

3 more carriers are in production.

AC202 –A Deactivated 15 Km long Primary Mass Relay is discovered in the Shanxi system. It is decided not to activate the Mass Relay at this time, as Shanxi has not yet fully matured as a colony. As a precaution, a Titan Class Space Fortress is planned to be moved into orbit over Shanxi.

Zechs Marquise is released from prison, being released a year early due to good behavior. He is personally recruited by Lady Une to head the Mobile Suit division of the Preventers.

Carriers complete construction, along with 5 more Dreadnoughts.

Serpent units are upgraded with Mass Effect cores, but are reserved for the best pilots due to their capabilities.

January AC203 – Local population on Shanxi exceeds 1 million. That number is expected to triple by the end of the year.

A Space colony is planned to be constructed and moved to Lagrange Point 1 of Shanxi within the next year.

February AC203 – Primary Relay at Shanxi activates. Nothing is detected coming through but the local population is frightened.

March AC203 – Titan Class Fortress Theia settles into orbit above the Capital City of Shanxi at Lagrange Point 1, calming the Colonist.

May AC203 – A Taskforce of 15 ships is put together to help guard Shanxi. 9 Frigates, 4 Cruisers and 2 Destroyers arrive at Shanxi with their compliment of Mobile Suits and Marines.

June AC203 – First Contact.

* * *

AN Continued:

If you're wondering why I had the Gundams survive past AC 196 when it looks like they just destroyed them outright right after the battle, remember that they destroyed them in what looks like Spring, while the battle happened just before New Year on snow covered ground. They were in a lush green field when they got detonated. Also, they probably just kept them going until they were sure all the other Mobile Suits were destroyed.

Some people will think that I had them build the Fortress Stations and Mobile Suits too quickly, and I believe so too. But this is in line with the Cannon of Gundam Wing. The entire Anime took place between April of AC 195 and New Year Day AC 196 (with the exception of the extra bit with Relena getting a Teddy Bear from Heero). That means they built a whole ton of Taurus Suits, designed and built the Virgo Dolls, designed and built Libra, upgraded the Virgo to Virgo II and had 3 changes of government in less than a single year.

That's not including Quatre building Wing Zero by himself over the course of what appears to be 2-3 weeks. An entire Gundam built in less than a month. And don't forget that the Gundam Engineers built Deathsythe and Altron from nothing in secret, while working against their will for OZ. Most of the engineering is ridiculous if you think about it, but I just roll with it, work it into the plot.

Leave a review if you would kindly.

Also, I put everything in Metrics cause the Imperial system is stupid and I wish the U.S. would switch to the Metric system. It just makes more sense.


	2. Chapter 2 - First Contact

Chapter 2 – First Contact

Trowa exited the main tent of the Circus and stopped. Looking around at the other members tearing everything down to move, he thought back to what they were doing here. He could spot the main city in the distance, 8 Km from where they setup.

He didn't want to come to Shanxi. It was too far from anywhere else, and with the discovery of the Relay activating from the other side security was not guaranteed. However, the Ring Leader Harry said that it would be good to see the Outer Colonies and the profits would be worth it. But Trowa also knew that he wanted to help distract the Colonist at this uncertain time. He shook his head, remembering the meeting.

* * *

"I don't think this is a good idea."

"Trowa," said Harry placating, "this is a good opportunity. We have always done well when we bring our acts to the ExSo Colonies, both Planet and Space based and especially the Planet based ones. What makes you think this is a bad idea?"

"Shanxi is not fully secure yet." Trowa replied neutrally, "It's a security risk, even with the Space fortress there. Those things aren't invincible." He would know. He was there when Barge was destroyed and helped take down Libra.

"You're over reacting. Just because you and your friends would be able to take it down doesn't mean that anyone would."

Catherine decided to chime in from his left, "Besides, it would allow the Colonist to relax. I know they must be worried out of their minds. A little distraction would be good for them."

"Exactly. Think how much they would be willing to spend to distract themselves and their loved ones from imminent danger!" Harry shouted gleefully.

Everyone in the meeting tent snorted or chuckled. Even though Harry said that everyone knew that he wouldn't gouge the Colonist. If anything, he would probably reduce the prices so that they could enjoy themselves more. He was nice like that.

"So we're just going to ignore the fact that we would be in danger?"

"Potential danger, not actual danger."

"What's the difference?"

"Trowa," Catherine chided him softly, "this is a good thing. Besides, we have you to protect us don't we?"

It dawned on Trowa right then what they were getting at. Distracting the Colonist with the Circus would help, but bringing Heavy Arms would be even better, even if the Colonist don't know that a Gundam would be protecting them. But he still didn't like it.

"So you want to bring everyone into potential danger just so that I can possibly protect strangers from an unknown threat" he stated in a flat tone.

There was an instant uproar in the meeting tent. The 10 or so leaders of the Circus tried to talk over one another to claim that wasn't the case or that they were willing to go or something equally asinine but Catherine spoke the loudest and drowned them out.

"Trowa don't be a brat. We all know the danger of Space travel and the danger of traveling with a Gundam Pilot and his Gundam, but we believe it would be more beneficial to the Colonist to have you there."

"Exactly" said Harry, "We all agreed that the potential harm doesn't outweigh the benefit of having a Gundam protect the Colony should things go bad. The fact that it is a good business decision just made it easier to sway everyone here."

Trowa knew that they had already made up their minds and each of them was determined to go to Shanxi. However, they would not go without him. The whole meeting was just to convince him to go with his Gundam.

Sure they would get a great reception. Sure they would make money hand over fist, even with the discounts Harry would no doubt be implementing. But that was just extra. The security that a Gundam would bring to the Colony outweighed any potential profits or danger that traveling there represent.

They could force him to go. Just make the decision for him and force him to bring along his Gundam as he always did. But they respected him too much for that. To go behind his back like that would be a breach of trust, and that is something they don't do to family. It would be his choice whether they go to Shanxi or somewhere else. That was why he trusted them with his identity as a Gundam Pilot.

He looked around, seeing nothing but determined faces. He desperately didn't want to go. His instincts screamed at him that something was going to happen, even without any evidence to support it. And as good as he is, as powerful as the Gundams are, he knows he won't be able to protect everyone should the worst happen.

His eyes finally went to Catherine. His adopted sister had a stubborn look on her face and he could tell by looking into her eyes that she wanted to go to Shanxi because it was the right thing to do. But she would leave the decision to him as it was he who would be shouldering the burden of protecting them all.

Closing his eyes, he let his head drop down to his chest and let out a small sigh. The others in the tent cheered and Catherine jumped up to hug him. It wasn't fair. She knew he would to anything to make her happy and as always, she used it against him in order to help other people.

"Alright people!" shouted Harry, "Begin preparations. WE'RE GOING TO SHANXI!"

"YEAH!"

Shaking his head ruefully, he watched as the other leaders of the Circus talk excitedly amongst themselves while they exited the tent to get everyone ready for the move. Soon only Trowa, Catherine and Harry were the only ones left. Catherine spoke up.

"Thanks for agreeing to do this Trowa."

"Haven't agreed to anything yet" he replied.

"Oh come off it" scoffed Harry, "We all know you can't say no to anything Catherine asks." Harry preened at his own quick wit while Trowa gave him the stink eye and Catherine giggled with her arms still around him. "But seriously Trowa" Harry continued, no mirth in his voice, "If you don't think this is a good idea we will go somewhere else. We don't want to force you to go against your will, especially if you think something is going to happen."

Trowa closed his eyes again and rested his head against the box behind him. He seriously didn't want to go. His instincts had kept him alive when he should have died and after interacting with the Zero system he learned to trust his instincts more.

But they made a good case. He would be doing a lot more good on Shanxi than anywhere else. All the other ExSo Colonies have a Titan station and a sizeable fleet presence. Shanxi only has a token Navy presence of 2 Frigates, and those were used mostly for exploring the surrounding space. Even with the Titan station, their defensive capability is drastically below any other Colony with the exception of lone research or mining stations. And they couldn't put more ships over Shanxi just yet; the Navy is being stretched thin as it is. Something drastic would have to happen before more ships would get sent.

Like the other Gundam Pilots he is also a member of the Preventers, though only part time like Duo or Quatre. He was briefed on the situation with Shanxi the previous week, 3 weeks after they moved the Titan there. 70% of the Mobile Suits on Shanxi proper were old Leo suits due to their small population size and remote location. Only 20% were the 79 model and even those weren't the Mark II versions. Hell, they didn't even have any Taurus suits until the Space Fortress arrived having only old Aries suits.

Having a Gundam there would greatly increase the defense capabilities of the Colony. It would boost morale should the worst occur and its presence would be one of the lynchpins for defense should they be attacked.

"No it's ok" he said finally. "I agree with what all of you said. It would be good for us and the Colonist."

Harry smiled at that. He reached out and patted Trowa on the shoulder before exiting the tent, leaving just the brother and sister.

"Thank you for doing this Trowa" Catherine said softly, "I know how much you want to keep us safe, and how worried you are about the situation."

Trowa wrapped his left arm around her. "I'm just not sure if they truly understand how bad things can get" Trowa said tiredly. "It could be worse than X-18999. And this time it would just be us and the normal soldiers, no other Gundam Pilots to back us up or even people like Sally or Lady Une to provide support."

Catherine paused at that, remembering when they were all kidnapped, the fear she and everyone felt when they realized that the plan was to drop the colony onto earth with all of them aboard as hostages, the hope and elation she felt when they were rescued. But even with all that, she knew having Trowa on the Colony is the right thing to do.

"Well" she said cheerfully, trying to lift the moody atmosphere, "you'll just need to make sure something like that doesn't happen. Unless of course, you believe someone like Heero or Duo would be better."

He couldn't help the snort that came out. Duo would probably set back the Colony development all on his own somehow and you couldn't pry Heero away from Relena and their children with a Taser and all the duct tape you can carry. He had the bruises to prove it, thanks to Duo and his insane plan that he somehow agreed to help in implementing.

Catherine gave a small giggle at that, kissed him on the cheek and gave her hug a final squeeze before leaving the tent to start packing, allowing him to sit there with his own thoughts.

With a final sigh he also got up to prepare for the move. First he had to make sure his partner is ready to fight at a moments' notice. Then he had to make a call to Lady Une to both make it easier to smuggle a Mobile Suit as part of a traveling Circus (as usual) and to inform her of his plan to bolster the Colony Defense Forces should the need arrive.

He dearly hoped the latter would not be needed, but the churning in his gut told him otherwise.

* * *

That was just under 2 months ago. After the arrival of the taskforce it was decided that the Circus would be leaving and taking a break for about a month on Earth itself. It would take the rest of today to take everything down, one more day to move everything to the space port, and another to have everything loaded for takeoff that evening. But while the Circus would be moving on he would be staying on Shanxi as a Preventer agent, helping coordinate the Colony Defense Force.

He looked up to the sky. Even though it was too far way to see without aid he knew that Titan Station Theia was there in geosynchronous orbit above the capital city. The location of the capital was chosen because the surrounding area was rich in fertile lands for farming. Being so new, there weren't a lot of settlements around Shanxi, just some farms and posts to observe the local wildlife and fauna, of which there were surprisingly little of.

Shaking his head from the distractions he once more started walking towards his trailer, planning to change into his Preventers uniform and start the drive into the city towards Preventers headquarters.

* * *

Wufei put down another report on the defenses of the Colony, tiredly rubbing his eyes before picking up the next page.

He had arrived here with the Taskforce, bringing his Gundam along with him under the orders of Lady Une. When asked why he had to go when Trowa was already there, Lady Une replied that while Trowa is an agent he doesn't have the time to make any changes to the defense plan to incorporate the inclusion of a Gundam, let alone two. When he argued that Colonel Williams would be able to make the changes and that one Gundam should be enough, she replied that he doesn't know the full capabilities of their suits like the Pilots do and would make assumptions that could jeopardize the security of the Colony as well as reminding him that Shanxi would be understrength even with the Taskforce arriving. When he stated that a different Gundam Pilot should go, she asked which one he recommends which shut him up immediately. Heero would not leave Relena unless there was an imminent threat. Quatre had a megacorporation to run. Duo is too spastic to focus on things like this and Trowa was already there. When he recommended Zechs, she reminded him that he has to stay on Earth for the next 5 years as part of his release and that short of an order from the President he couldn't leave without being sent back to jail. He gave up at that point and agreed to go to Shanxi. He didn't miss the slight smirk on her face though as he was leaving her office. She can say what she wants, but he knows he is being punished for helping Sally with her surprise birthday party since they told everyone what her real age was.

Women.

So he said goodbye to his partner and their children, loaded up Nataku on a transport and joined the Taskforce leaving Arcturus.

He arrived 2 weeks ago and briefed Colonel Williams on what exactly he was there for, as well as the assets available. Though Williams knew there was a Gundam on the Colony, he didn't know which one it is or the identity of the pilot as he didn't have the clearance for it. Now he knows that 03 and 05 are available and redesigned the defenses accordingly. He could only shift the defense for the Colony as the Titan station was a different chain of command and had their own Colonel leading them. The Taskforce would send down their compliment of Ground Based mobile suits should the need arise but the only ones he would be able to get were the 4 Serpent suits carried by the Destroyers. Still, beggars can't be choosers and those four suits would be more deadly than half the Leo forces.

The Preventers didn't have any Mobile Suits as there were only 50 agents here, including the receptionists and secretaries, and most cases were handled by the local Police. Still, they would be needed to coordinate with the local PD and the Military garrison to get the civilians to safety.

A knock on the door interrupted his thoughts. "Enter."

Trowa opened the door and strolled up to the desk. "Thought you would be done with this by now" he said.

"I would be done by now had I actually gotten some help" said Wufei testily. Endless reports tended to grate his nerves, go figure.

Trowa smirked, "And be stuck in here with you? I'm not that stupid. I may have come to Shanxi against my better judgement but I'm not dumb enough to get stuck with what you're doing." He took a seat in front of the desk, brushing off Wufei's glare with practiced ease.

"Thanks a lot" replied Wufei, putting aside the last report for the day before picking up another document.

"You shouldn't have told everyone what her real age was. Even I know that."

"Not all of us have older sisters to teach us these things."

"But you have a wife. She should have known what was going to happen."

"If you recall, it was my wife that planned it in the first place."

"Then it was a trap and you should have seen it coming."

"Don't you have a circus to pack up?"

Smirking once again Trowa was about to reply when another knock on the door stopped him.

Wufei spoke, "Enter." The door opened to reveal Wufei's' secretary, a pretty young woman with Asian features, dressed in the standard blue/brown of the Preventers uniform with her black hair in a plait braid over her left shoulder and dangling to just below her breast. If Trowa remembered the personnel list correctly, her name is Mei and is 2 years younger than them having just graduated from the Preventers program 6 months ago and being assigned straight here.

She came into the room and saluted, standing to attention. "Sirs. Colonel Williams is requesting a meeting tomorrow at 1100 between the two of you, him, Captain Cortez and Colonel Rezkov regarding the Colony Defense Plan."

Captain Raul Cortez is in charge of Taskforce 314, as well as the commander of the Destroyer _Iron Will_. He was an officer of the Old Alliance, becoming a Guerilla fighter against OZ after the takeover and then against the Romefeller foundation before joining up with Treiz to fight White Fang. Though he did not fight in a Mobile Suit, he still commanded a 100 man MS unit during the Battle of Libra from Mo2. Thanks to his tactics and leadership, 54 of the Pilots survived which was higher than average. He did not participate in the Mariemaia Coup instead being on Moon Base #4 as head of Security. He joined the Navy one year after now Admiral Jon Grissom traveled through the Charon relay and worked his way up to the rank of Captain due to the leadership and tactical skills shown during the Navy War Games.

Colonel Antonin Rezkov was an OZ trained Pilot. He actually fought against the Gundams in Siberia when they were transporting the prototype Taurus suits. Most of his unit was wiped out as the OZ forces suffered over 70% casualties during that battle. He went on to fight in other pivotal moments throughout that chaotic year, culminating in the defense of the Sanc Kingdom. His Leo suit was destroyed but the cockpit was mostly intact, thereby sparing his life at the cost of several scars now visible on his face. He recovered from his injuries just in time to participate in the fight against White Fang where he led a 10 man squad of Space Leo suits against the Mobile Dolls. Six of the Suits under his command were lost along with their Pilots. He himself shot down eight suits, one of the highest kill counts for a Pilot not using a Gundam. A year later he joined Mariemaia's army, piloting a Serpent Suit during the attempted coup. His Serpent Suit, ironically, was taken down by none other than Heavy Arms, the same Gundam that nearly killed him in Siberia. After the pardon he joined the Preventers as a Mobile Suit Pilot and was later transferred to the original Titan Space Fortress, Cronus, where he led the Mobile Suit Unit on the station for one year. Afterwards, he was promoted to 2nd in command of Titan Station Coues before being promoted to Colonel and put in charge of Titan Station Theia roughly 8 months ago.

Colonel Martin Williams was also part of the Old Alliance. Joining at the age of 18, he rose up through the Ranks to become a Major. However, he disagreed with what the Alliance was doing to the Colonies and resigned from his command after the death of Heero Yuy and the forceful takeover of the Space Colonies. He spent the years mainly in Latin America and South America where his wife was from ancestrally. Thanks to that, he missed most of the fighting that happened on Earth though he had a front row seat of Libra destroying an uninhabited Island during their declaration or war. As he did not have any experience with either Piloting a Mobile Suit nor Space Warfare he stayed out of the final battle and watched the proceedings from Earth with his family. A year later his entire family was visiting the ESUN Capital when the Coup attempt took place. Though he did not fight, he was one of the protestors that were brought in by Dorothy Catalonia to protest the Coup. When the Military had a shortage of Commanders his file was one of the first that were flagged as a potential recruit. So he once again joined up, being instated as a Lieutenant Colonel on the 3rd ExSo Planet Colony before being promoted to Colonel and transferred to Shanxi to ride out the last 3 years of service before his planned retirement. The discovery of the deactivated Mass Relay in the system one year into his command put a small damper on his plans, but like a good soldier he made his contingencies and did his duty to the best of his ability.

"One moment" said Wufei, turning over to his computer to check his schedule. Due to the classified nature of his work not even his secretary knew when all his meetings were, much to her embarrassment when she scheduled a meeting for him at the same time he had a conference call with Lady Une to brief the President on the status of the Colony Defenses.

Because he was paying attention to his computer instead of his secretary, he didn't see the intense stare she directed to his face or the slight blush adorning her cheeks. But because Trowa was paying attention to her he definitely didn't miss it. When she noticed he was looking at her she blushed even deeper and looked away. Luckily, she was able to get herself under control by the time Wufei finished checking his schedule.

"I should be free for about half an hour at that time. Go ahead and schedule it."

"Yes sir" Mei replied as she saluted. She hesitated then, looking as if she was conflicted before saying "Agent Wufei sir. A few of us were going to have a small get together tonight for dinner and drinks. I was wondering sir . . . would you care to join us?" she asked with a bit of hope in her voice.

Wufei was once again looking at his computer screen, frustrated as he keeps messing up the appointment length due to the formatting and replied distractedly "Agent Barton and I have documents we have to go over tonight for the meeting tomorrow, so I'm afraid we will both have to decline."

"Understood sir. I'll inform Colonel Williams of your answer regarding the meeting." Saluting once more, she blushed again when she noticed Trowa giving her a knowing look before turning around and leaving the office, closing the door softly behind her.

Trowa turned back to Wufei who had finally finished fiddling with the appointment time and was taking a drink of tea and spoke up, "You know she has a crush on you right?"

He didn't give any outward reaction like Trowa wanted. He instead finished his tea calmly and asked "What are you talking about?"

"Your secretary. Pretty sure she has a serious crush on you."

"She knows I'm married."

"I don't think she does." At the questioning look he received, Trowa continued "Your personnel file states that you're single. You never got your marriage filed with the Government, much less the Preventers."

"Bah" Wufei said with contempt, "I'm married. She's my wife, I'm her husband and no piece of paper signed by a balding old man and filed by a disinterested clerk will change that. She knows it, I know it, and the rest of the universe better know it as well."

Trowa smiled at that. To Wufei, it truly didn't matter what others thought of the two of them. They knew the truth and that's all that mattered.

"Why were you looking at my personnel file?" asked Wufei as he got back to the documents on his desk.

"Lady Une had me look over everyone's background and skill sets earlier this year to make sure everything meshed together still. I noticed the changes of the dependents of the other three but not yours."

That was another thing they had to keep in mind. Due to their age, their Seniority as Special Agents would be put into question. In order to keep their identities as Gundam Pilots a secret, Lady Une put together fake Dossiers on all of them stating that they trained together for a year following the founding of the Preventers to be the next generation of leaders and Agents in order to giving credibility to their skillsets and experience, as well as their high rank in the organization. Their initial skillset had to be limited due to the nature of their work, but over time it became easier to explain why they had knowledge on how to: Pilot a Mobile Suit, hack into the Military Network, handle heavy weapons and explosives, spying, interrogation techniques and all the other things needed by a highly skilled individual to wage a long campaign of Guerilla Warfare against a World Wide government. Of course, some things were never going to be put in their file or even written down, but it helps when they go to a new posting to get people to listen to them.

One of the things that they never said but mutually agreed upon was that they would keep their identities as Gundam Pilots secret. A Gundam was a symbol of power, the ultimate defense that saved the world at least twice, an unbreakable object which would protect humanity from any enemy that may present itself. But the Pilots are just human, and humans are much more fallible than a Gundam.

"So what are your plans for today?" Wufei asked.

"I was going to check up on Heavy Arms and Altron, make sure they're good to go still. I noticed that the fidelity of the long range scanners is not as good here as they normally would be."

Due to their secrecy, only the two of them have access to the Preventers MS bay. Since it was going to be empty for the next half year or so anyways it wasn't that hard to lock everyone else out without them noticing, thus having a secure place to store the Gundams without the risk of anyone accidentally stumbling upon them. It also doubled as an emergency bunker, the empty bays able to fit up to 2,000 people, 3,000 in a pinch.

"Hmmm. Don't forget to go over the updated plans for the Defenses before tomorrow. Make sure your recommendations and critiques are ready for the meeting."

Trowa nodded at that and got up, leaving to go to the secure terminal to access the Defense Plans when he remembered something. Stopping with one hand on the doorknob, he turned back and asked "Wufei. Do you get the feeling that something is going to happen soon?"

The question caught Wufei off guard, as he had been having the same feeling since he had been notified of his posting. "…Yes. It's like the anticipation before a battle. I felt the same way before we assaulted Libra all those years ago. I don't know why but I know that we have to be prepared and soon, and I'm afraid that we are running out of time."

Trowa looked at Wufei, seeing if there was any falsehood in his statement. When he didn't find any he nodded and replied "Yeah. I had the same feeling when the Circus members told me about their plans to come here. It's gotten worse and worse and skyrocketed when the Taskforce came. I think we have less time than we would like to prepare for what's coming."

That got Wufei's attention. "Coming? What do you think is coming Trowa?"

He was silent for a moment, contemplating the answer before he simply said:

"War."

And with that, he opened the door and quietly left the office, leaving Wufei to his thoughts and his work.

'War' Wufei thought. That's exactly what he felt too.

* * *

On the other side of the Relay, a Turian patrol fleet was currently waiting for something to happen. They had been on a normal patrol, making sure no one had activated the relay and to ward off any Pirates or Slavers from the edge of Council territory when lo and behold, they found that Relay 314 had been activated. So they patiently waited, wanting to catch the lawbreakers and punish them for their transgressions.

That was three months ago and the Turians' patience had run out. Nothing had come through the new Relay and nothing else had come into the system. The Patrol leader requested permission to scout what was on the other side, but since there was no proof that it had actually been used the request was denied by the Hierarchy. As much as they wanted the potential resources on the opposite side of the Relay they had to maintain their Peacekeeping role as a Council member, so breaking a law they had helped put in place was a serious no go.

But now the patrol fleet had to move on. After months of no activity they could no longer justify letting a patrol fleet simply dawdle at an uninhabited edge of Council space when they could be doing something useful. So the decision was made by both the Hierarchy and the Council to leave several probes in place to monitor the Relay that would inform both of them immediately when the relay was used. The probes were put in place earlier that day and testing showed them to be working at 100%. So with quiet efficiency, the patrol group formed up and left that area of space for another area of space, not noticing the extra probe that was monitoring them nor the signal that was sent an hour after the last ship left.

* * *

Jon'Anum grinned when he got the signal that the Turians had left. The Batarian had been waiting for this day for months, cursing the Turians for every minute of time they forced him to wait for their departure.

He had activated Relay 314 over 3 months ago, sending a probe to the other side to see what was there. When the probe detected not only a Garden World but a new, unknown civilization with barely any defenses he drooled at the amount of credits bringing a new Slave Race would get him. As he was preparing to muster his forces the probe he left behind to monitor this end of the Relay notified him that a Turian patrol fleet had come. He cursed them and put his plan on hold, instructing his probe to only send a signal one hour after the Turians had left so as to not get detected. As a high ranking member of the Batarian Military, he knew that activating a Mass Relay would bring the wrath of the entire Citadel Civilization down on his race.

So he bided his time. He contacted various Slaver organizations throughout the Terminus Space and even got the Hegemon to back his plans to go through Relay 314. But he had to keep it secret from the accursed STG. He knew that it was impossible with all the people he was contacting, so he let false information get leaked. The slave raid was going to happen in Asari space, in Turian space, hell, even in the Terminus itself. So far it had worked. He knew that they would find out but as long as he got back before they sent anyone to the Relay itself there was nothing they could do.

Now he was ready. He sent out a message to all his forces to meet up at Torfan. It was close to Relay 314 and was a known Slave raid drop off point, so a gathering of Slaver ships would not be unusual though the number of ships would alert the STG. With the STG on alert that a raid would happen they would be on the lookout for it to happen in Citadel Space, with feelers on the lookout in the Terminus. The Turians would spread their forces out in strategic locations and no one would be looking at a small, unused corridor of space with a newly activated Relay. After all, only the Turians and the Citadel Council knew about it.

He smiled as he got confirmation after confirmation that the forces he contacted would be there. It would take the rest of the day to get everyone to Torfan and brief them on the plan, and most of tomorrow morning to get them through the Relay. He figured he would have 3 weeks minimum, 5 maximum before the Turians return to Relay 314. By the time they got there he would already be back in Batarian Space enjoying his spoils. It was all going according to plan.

* * *

Later on that day Jon'Anum met with the leaders of the planned Slave Raid. There were only 4 main players there, as everyone else had a force too small to make note of and would be following their lead anyway.

First was himself of course. He would have overall control of the operation, from who goes where to the division of spoils after it was done.

Second was Gorvon, the leader of the Blood Pack mercenaries who made up the heavy weapons portion of his ground forces. He was a Krogan who liked to hear the screams of his victims before killing them. He would bring around 160 Krogan and 500 Vorcha to the fight. He didn't care about slaves, he just wanted to kill things and get paid for it.

Third was Rina L'Osti. She was a purple Asari Matron in charge of the Eclipse forces that would be participating. They were going to be the equivalent of their Special Forces as well as their Biotic support. Made up of former Asari huntresses as well as former Salarian military and Turian troopers, they were more disciplined than the other Mercs, even more so than the Batarian Regulars who would be joining them.

And finally there was Durnok. He is a Major from the Hegemony Military and would be in charge of the vehicles and transportation as well as the Batarian Regulars. They would be getting only a few Tanks for this operation, but they would be getting plenty of APCs and lots and lots of transport trucks. He is also in charge of getting troops on the ground and slaves in the ships, as well as the gunships that would be providing air support.

Jon'Anum decided to start the meeting. "All right everyone. You all know we are here for a slave raid. What you don't know is that we're not hitting just any planet. We're hitting this one." And with that, he put up the planet Shanxi on the wall projector.

The other leaders looked at it for a long moment. Finally Rina spoke up "What planet is that? I know most of the planets on the edges of Council space that would be worth hitting, as well as the non-aligned Terminus planets that would net a good profit on a raid like this but I don't recognize that one."

"Me neither" replied Gorvon his deep voice rumbling through the room.

"Nor do I" said Durnok who was also pondering which planet this was. It was strange. Between the three of them they should be able to identify any planets worth this kind of assault.

"That's because until now, none of you knew this planet existed" Jon'Anum said with a smirk.

They all paused at that, unsure of what he meant until Durnok became wide eyed and exclaimed "The Turians!" The other two leaders looked at him questioningly before he continued "The Turians discovered that Relay 314 had been activated but could not find that anyone had gone through it. They have a patrol fleet stationed there to make sure no one uses it."

"Had" corrected Jon'Anum, "Had a patrol fleet there. My hidden probe informed me that earlier today they packed up their bags and went somewhere else. My informants tell me they went on their planned patrol route and should not be back to that area of space within the next month at least."

The other leaders looked at Jon'Anum with astonishment before Gorvon let out a laugh. "HA! You've got a quad on you Batarian. If they knew you were the one that activated that Relay a Specter would have presented your head to the Council by now!" He continued laughing in amusement while the other leaders sat there dumbfounded at his actions.

"This is insane!" shouted Rina, "You want to go through an unexplored Relay to attack an unknown race? Even if they weren't like the Rachni or the Geth the Citadel would go after us so fast and so hard that we wouldn't be able to spend even one credit of anything we make, if we make anything at all!"

"I have to agree with her sir" said Durnok, "I do not believe this is a wise action. We should let them come through the Relay on their own before attacking them in order to get more intelligence on what they are capable of. I do not believe this is in the Hegemony's best interest."

Jon'Anum narrowed his four eyes at Durnok in irritation. "You have no right to refuse. You know exactly where your orders came from." And he did. This came straight from the top, given to him by the Hegemon himself in his throne room. Jon'Anum turned to Rina, "And as for you, you do not need to worry about them. As long as they have no actual proof that we went through the Relay, they can't do anything to us."

"No proof?" she asked incredulously, "You're planning on taking back slaves. Actual, living, sentient beings that no one would ever have seen before, 3 months after the activation of a Relay leading into unknown space. The Turians may be hard headed but they're not stupid, even less so for the Salarians."

"That would be mere conjecture. After all, it may have been some other Terminus band that provided those slaves and sourced them far away from Council Space. As long as they don't catch us physically going through the Relay they have no proof we ever went as long as everyone scrubs their navigation data before and after we go through."

"That's a lot of trust you put in a bunch of half tanked Mercenaries who have a hard time remembering which ship they're on much less to modify the navigational data on a system they wouldn't know how to access. And the Turians wouldn't just have left the space unguarded they should have left probes behind to monitor anything coming or going in that system."

"My own trusted men will be on each ship, making sure that the data is modified on both the initial trip as well as the return trip." replied the Batarian easily, "And you are correct. The Turians did leave behind probes to monitor the relay."

"I knew it! This raid would go to hell before we even set foot on that world."

"Let me finish!" shouted Jon'Anum, "I plan on having a stolen Volus resource exploration ship arrive in system before us and hack the probes, thereby signaling that nothing is happening even though we would be using the Relay."

"The Batarians are many things, but expert hackers they are not. What makes you think you would be able to hack them?" she asked, still irritated at his smug countenance.

"Because I purchased the information from the Shadow Broker."

That gave everyone pause. The Shadow Broker was known to be the best information broker in the galaxy, able to ferret out the greatest of secrets from any organization. That he purchased the info from him/her gave Jon'Anum credibility in his ability to pull it off. But the cost would have been ridiculous.

"That must have cost you quite the stack of credits" said Gorvon. He had done jobs for the Broker before and he/she always paid very well, so he knew how much such a service would cost.

"The potential profit for this endeavor is in the Billions. BILLIONS! It was well worth the cost. So are there any more questions, or can we get to planning this raid?" Jon'Anum asked as he looked around at the other leaders.

It was quiet for a few moments before Gorvon spoke up again, "How will we be splitting the profits?"

Having anticipated that question, Jon'Anum answered immediately "30% will go to me. 45% will go to the Hegemony to cover their cost in this operation, 10% will go to you and Rina each and the last 5% will be used to pay the rest of the Mercs. This is Non-negotiable."

Gorvon and Rina were both miffed that they would be getting such a small slice of the overall pie, but 10% of a Billion was still 100 Million and they would be potentially making more. Sure the stakes were high, but with potential profits this large they knew they wouldn't see anything like this again for a long time in their long lives, if ever again. They both nodded in agreement and Jon'Anum smiled at them.

"Well then," he said with a grin, "let's make some money."

* * *

A Volus resource exploration ship arrived in the system with Relay 314 in it. The probes noted the arrival of the ship, and relayed it back to Turian High Command as they were programmed to. The Volus ship then set about to discharge the static from their Element Zero in the atmosphere of one of the planets in the system. The probes followed the flight of the Volus ship as programmed, but then they received an incoming signal. Checking their database, it matched access codes used by the Turian Hierarchy to run diagnostics/maintenance, as well as change the parameters of their assignment. They obediently gave access to the incoming signal, not realizing that it was coming from the Volus ship, nor that the Volus ship had been hijacked in the Terminus and the crew killed, having been taken over by Slavers. The probes were then ordered to state that the Volus ship left the system after discharging their core, going to an out of the way system that was still within Citadel Space, but mainly untraveled to due to the distance from anywhere else. The probes did so obediently, even though they could tell that the ship was still in the system. They were then told to keep stating that nothing had come into the system and then had all their external sensors shut down. So they obeyed, ignorant of the space around them, always stating that there was nothing in the system except them, and that no one had used the Relay. They didn't do anything when the first Slaver ship arrived, nor did they do anything different when the last Slaver ship passed through the Relay. But they weren't the ones monitoring the system.

* * *

STG Captain Morrol Varix looked on at the Relay as the last Slaver ship went through while the Volus freighter stayed in orbit around a barren rock of a planet. He could not believe the stupidity of those Slavers. Did they believe that only the Turians would be on the lookout for the ones who activated Relay 314 illegally? Though the Turians would bring the Hammer, it was the Salarians that told them where to hit. Without them, the Turians would have less than half their current rate of success in patrolling civilized space.

When the Turians finally announced to the Citadel Council two and a half months ago that Relay 314 had been activated, the STG had already known about it and were frantically investigating, trying to discover who was responsible. One month later, their investigation came up with nothing. None of the major Terminus players who had the resources to do such a thing had done so. None of the members of the Citadel governments had done it, or the STG would have figured it out before they even sent one ship through the Relay. So it was either the Quarians, who were on the other side of the Galaxy at the time, the Krogan, who don't have any spaceships left after the end of the Rebellions, the Geth, who never came out of the Perseus Veil, or an individual going against the common good of the Citadel. They dismissed the idea that it was activated from the other side as a new race would have come through by now, especially since it had been activated between 1-3 weeks before the patrol fleet had stumbled upon it. So they agreed with the Turians that they should wait, in hopes that the ones who had activated the Relay had gone through and the Turians would arrest them after they come back. But as the days went by, they slowly started to realize that no one had actually used the Relay yet, just activated it.

So they took the Turian plan and modified it without telling anyone else. The Turians, who were losing patience after waiting for three months for something to happen, would leave the system, dropping off probes to monitor the Relay and anyone who would enter the system itself. They would then go on their normal patrol route, just a bit behind schedule. There would be no announcement, as they didn't want opportunistic or desperate people to try to go through the Relay anyway, but the STG figured that the one who activated the Relay would have a way of knowing that the Turians had left. But what they didn't tell anyone was that one day before the Patrol Fleet was scheduled to move on, an STG stealth vessel entered the system undetected. They would remain hidden, and would continue to do so for the next two weeks when their relief would come. Their hope was that once the Patrol Fleet left, whoever had activated the Relay would come back to try to use it. Because they were unsure of who had activated the Relay, only the STG Director and those on the ship monitoring the Relay would know of the plan. Not even the Citadel Council was informed. Captain Varix had been briefed personally by the Director, and only informed his crew once they were one relay jump away from Relay 314.

And the plan worked. They had picked up the signal that was sent out an hour after the Patrol Fleet left. However, without contacting STG Command they were unable to trace who it went to, though they knew the signal went into Citadel Space rather than the Terminus Systems. When the Volus ship arrived and hacked the Turian probes, he believed that it was a member of the Hierarchy that had activated the Relay. But when the first ship that arrived in the system following the hack was a Batarian ship, he started having second thoughts. Ship after ship came, discharging their drive cores at the same planet the Volus ship was at. When the vast majority of them were revealed to be Batarian in Design, he knew exactly what this was. He had known that someone was planning to put together a large Slave Raiding party, but the STG always received conflicting reports on where it was happening. When the STG ship received their daily update, one item of note was that the Slavers were gathering at Torfan, close to them but still without any information on where they were going. But now he knew.

A member of the Batarian Military must have activated the Relay, then put their plans on hold when the Turians came into the system. Now that they knew the Turians had left, they cleverly hacked the probes left behind to allow them to pass through the Relay without detection. They must have sent either a probe or a ship through before the Turians had come. Gathering this many ships would be a huge risk if they did not know anything worthwhile is on the other side.

He had to hand it to whoever planned this. They were smart enough to lay low when the Turians were here, clever enough to know how to hack into the probes that were left behind, but stupid enough to think that only the Turians were investigating the Relay activation. Since when were Turians known as investigators for something like this? He had thought someone would access the Relay after the Turians had left, but he didn't think that they would come so quickly. He figured they would wait between a week and a month, or even after the probes had been removed. He himself would have waited a year, long enough for everyone to start losing vigilance over the activation. But greed tends to make otherwise smart beings stupid, and it looks like this case was no exception.

So Varix made his way to the secure communicator. Once there, he opened up a secure connection to the STG Director, a direct line that would reach him no matter what he was doing, all the while pondering on what will happen next.

* * *

The STG Director was about to eat in his office when his communicator beeped. Slightly annoyed at the interruption, he looked to see who it was. When the code was the one he gave Captain Varix, his annoyance went away. There was no way Varix would contact him about something trivial. He immediately activated the lockdown on his office and accepted the call.

"This is The Director. Verify." No risks were being taken, everything would have to be verified.

"3-3-4-5-5-3-8. Counter Verification."

"Confirmed. 6-4-2-2-1-8-3." Even his identification had to be verified by field agents in cases like this.

"Confirmed. Sir, Relay 314 has just been used by a large Slaver fleet. I believe the one who activated the Relay 3 months ago is among them."

The Director paused at that. The STG knew that someone would try to access the Relay, but he didn't think it would be so soon. "Understood. What do you recommend at this point?" He asked because he trusted the judgement of Captain Varix, otherwise he would not have sent him on this mission.

"I suggest that you inform the Turian Hierarchy immediately and get their 3rd and 5th Fleets ready to intercept the Slaver fleet when they get back. They have a Hijacked Volus ship here to monitor this side of the Relay, but we can jam their signals and hack the ship when the time comes so that they do not know the Turians have arrived."

The Director was put back at the amount of ships and firepower he was recommending. That was nearly 500 ships as well as 5 Dreadnoughts. But he wouldn't have made the recommendation foolishly. "Why do you think that much force is necessary?"

Varix was calm when he replied, "Because the Slaver fleet has over 300 ships in it. There are between 100 to 115 transport ships, the rest being combat ships including 2 Dreadnoughts of Batarian make."

Once again, the Director was taken aback. Sending even a single Dreadnought was proof of your Government's complicity and support. Sending 2 meant the Batarians were expecting the rewards would be worth any fallout. Seeing as they had 7 due to the Treaty of Farixen, sending any more would have raised questions throughout Citadel Space.

But something else troubled him. How did they get so many ships together without the STG knowing about it before hand? Then he realized he did know about it, but just had an incomplete picture.

"The Slaver fleet at Torfan."

"Exactly Director. I believe this is what they were gathering for." Replied Varix.

Now the Director was getting angry. They had been made fools of. Tricked by a Batarian Slaver to waste time and resources over a Raid that was occurring where they could not go.

"Understood. Stay in place and wait for the signal to hack the Volus ship. As much as I would like to send you through the Relay and observe directly what the Slaver Fleet is doing, we can't risk them finding out you are there, nor can we leave the Volus ship to do what it wants. Forward me all your data and prepare Captain."

"Will do sir. Varix Out." Varix saluted then cut the transmission.

30 seconds later, the Director received the Data package from Varix. He looked over everything quickly but thoroughly. He even took the time to trace the signal that was sent out after the Turian Patrol fleet left. It had indeed gone into Batarian space, right to Karshan even, but the identity of the receiver was unknown. This would have to be a powerful individual in the Batarian Government. Due to each Governments semi-independent state from one another, they were guaranteed that certain individuals would not be monitored by the STG for security reasons. All governments were given the guarantee, though the Batarians used it the most to cover for their Slaver leaders, with the Asari coming in second due to the number of Influential Matriarchs that run their Republic, and Turians coming in a close third due to the way their Hierarchy is structured.

Everything checked out and it fit with the numbers that were present at Torfan recently. Those stupid cloaca.

He immediately contacted the Salarian Councilor, hoping that whoever was on the other side of the Relay would be able to defend themselves, though that hope was hollow.

* * *

When the first Slaver ship entered the system where Relay 314 was, Wufei and Trowa were having their meeting with the other commanders regarding the Defense Plans of the Colony.

Trowa and Wufei were in the secure conference room of the Preventers Building, along with the Chief of Police. The Preventers building was located near the center of the Capital. Colonel Williams, dressed in the Green Alliance Marine Force Officers Uniform, was on the Center screen. He is contacting them from his office at the Planetary Garrison, which is 10 Km north of the City itself. This was because the Military tended to create quite a lot of noise when doing exercises, as well as needing room to expand when the time comes. This was also the reason the Space Port is 7 Km south of the City, though high speed rails connect it with the population center for ease of transport. Captain Cortez is on the left screen, dressed in the Blue Alliance Navy Uniform, contacting them from the Bridge of his Destroyer. On the Right screen is Colonel Rezkov, dressed in the Black and White of the Space Fortress Defense Force, and he is contacting them from the Conference room of the Titan Station.

The Chief of Police was a last minute addition at the suggestion of Trowa, as the Police Force would be in charge of evacuating the Civilians to underground shelters. The other four saw the wisdom of doing so and had no objections.

The plan for the Colony Defense was pretty simple. All Civilians would go to the underground transit system. This transit system would then take them to the secure bunkers, 20 Km east of the main City. Those that couldn't make it in time would be in hardened buildings, such as the Preventers building which had the Mobile Suit hanger beneath it, the Administrative building near the center of the city or to one of the various police stations. Buildings such as Hospitals would be defended by either the Police or the Marines, whichever was available. The Preventers would coordinate both the civilian evacuations and the communication between the Police and various Military units that would be deployed around the city. They would also have a Rapid Response team to help support whoever needed it most.

Colonel Williams' men would be deployed throughout the City, having Mobile Suits surrounding the City on all sides with the Type 79 suits defending the Main entrances to the City itself. A few Leo suits would stay to protect the base, and the Aries suits would be held in reserve to act as a Rapid Response Force. The Serpent suits would also be deployed in the city as an RRF, though separate from the Aries suits. They would go to wherever the fighting was heaviest, and stay until the enemy was either pushed back or destroyed. The Gundams themselves would also be an RRF, though only Heavy Arms would be in the City. He would act independently of all forces, going where he felt was needed. Altron would be launched into Space to help the Navy with their fight.

The Navy would deploy all its Taurus suits, acting as both a scout and forward element of the defending forces. The ships would then form up around Titan Station Theia, making sure to stay out of the way of the Mk 3 Noventa Cannons as well as the Beam Turrets that are spread throughout the structure. The Titan Station would act as the main defensive force as it was designed to be, with the Virgo suits acting as static defenses due to their limited range, while the Taurus suits would be deployed to harass the enemy. The main problem is that instead of the normal 300 Taurus suits that it should have, they only had 150 suits due to the rapid way they were deployed to Shanxi. There simply were not enough pilots available to get them up to full strength, though they had the full complement of Mobile Dolls. Even if they only have a range of 1000 Km from the Titan station, their weapons have an effective range of over 150,000 Km thanks to improved sensors. Though the Beam Cannons they carry have a range of up to 300,000 Km, the accuracy is wanting at that distance, and the Beams start losing cohesiveness at 200,000 Km. In the atmosphere of a planet though, the effective range is limited due to the curvature of the planet itself, with cohesiveness being lost after 10,000 Km. The Noventa Cannon has an effective range of up to 1 Million Km, with their beam turrets effective up to 300,000 Km thanks to better power generation as well as better sensors than those mounted on a Mobile Dolls. Built in safety protocols make it so that none of the weapons on the Station would be able to fire at either a Planet or a Colony. The Station would also be used to re-arm the Navy ships, as well as supply technicians to do quick damage repairs during lulls in the battle.

They were wrapping up their meeting, having agreed to the Defense plans when Captain Cortez received an alert from one of the Bridge Officers. "SIR! Frigate SSV Saratoga is reporting ships coming through the new Relay! Fifteen ships and counting."

The SSV Saratoga is the Frigate that was in charge of keeping an eye on the newly activated Relay. It was one of the two Frigates that were in the Shanxi system when the Relay was first discovered, and the crew knew the surrounding area better than any other ship.

The Officers in the meeting heard the crew member shout. Each was shocked by what they heard, and Trowa was the first to recover. "Say again? Did you say that ships came out of the NEW Relay?"

A fourth screen came to life, showing the face of a middle aged 1st Lieutenant. "Yes sir. Ships are coming out of the new Relay. They don't match any known ship profiles. The commander of the Saratoga, Commander Yao, notes that the number of ships keeps increasing. There are already over 50 ships and more keep coming."

All the Officers were quiet at that. They knew this would happen eventually, but they didn't think that it would happen so soon after setting up their first ExSo Colony. They definitely didn't think it would happen on their watch.

Colonel Rezkov spoke first, "Gentleman. I believe we have a first contact situation."

Everyone present could only agree numbly with what he said. Colonel Williams got over the shock first. "All right people, this is what we have been preparing for. I am raising awareness to Defcon 2. Have the Civilians start evacuating. Coordinate with your subordinates. I will ready the troops but not have them deploy yet. 1st Lieutenant, have the Saratoga initiate First Contact procedures, have shields raised but weapons cold. We don't want to provoke a fight unless we have to, especially since we are going to be badly outnumbered."

The 1st Lieutenant looked to Captain Cortez, who nodded in agreement before replying, "Understood sir, Hackett out." He disconnected, leaving only the Commanding Officers.

The Chief of Police got up at this point. "Gentleman, I will be starting the evacuation. Good luck." He nodded to everyone present and left, calling the Precinct Captains on the radio to start coordinating with each other.

Captain Cortez started speaking. "I will call back all the ships except the Saratoga to defensive positions around Titan Station Theia, and have all Taurus Suits –"

"SIR!" he was interrupted by Hackett again, who once more appeared on the fourth monitor, "Saratoga reports that they have been fired upon. They lost shields and have multiple hull breaches. They were able to escape and are about to return to Shanxi orbit."

A fifth screen turned on at this point. From the Camera angle, it was from the one of the Navy Ships. The Saratoga dropped out of FTL about 1,000 Km away. They could see multiple gashes in the hull from weapons impact.

Rezkov spoke up at this point "Lieutenant Hackett, connect us to the Commander of the Saratoga now."

"Yes sir. Doing so now, Hackett Out."

Hackett was replaced with the face of Commander Yao, a man of Chinese descent in his mid-40s. He saluted those present, and they could hear the shouts of the Bridge crew in the background. "Sirs, Commander Yao reporting."

"Commander Yao" stated Captain Cortez, "what happened?"

"We were monitoring the Relay when ships started to pour out of it. At last reading, there were over 200 ships present with more coming. We weren't hidden, so they must have detected us shortly after the first ship exited the Relay. We were about to initiate contact with them when we detected Weapons fire from about 20 ships. We were able to do last minute evasive maneuvers, but we couldn't dodge them all. Roughly 6 projectiles hit our shields, with 3 more impacting our hull afterwards. We were still mobile, so I ordered the ship to retreat back to Shanxi."

"Did they attempt to contact you in any way? Did you receive or detect any kind of signal from them?"

"We detected that they were communicating with each other but nothing towards us."

"This is very disturbing." Muttered Colonel Rezkov. "They didn't even try to talk to us before initiating hostilities."

"Yes sir."

Wufei asked the next question, "You said that you were hit with projectiles. No Beam weapons?"

"No sir" replied Commander Yao, "If they had hit us with beam weapons we wouldn't be here right now. I believe they only use Mass Effect Cannons like what I have on my Frigate. But the size of some of the ships that fired on us was at least Cruiser weight, so I don't understand why it was only projectiles that hit us." Beam weapons tended to have a heavier impact on Mass Effect barriers then projectile weapons. Beam Weapons were not entirely energy weapons like lasers would be. They instead generated energy particles (which have mass) and shot them forward at about half the speed of light. The particles then imparted their energy onto whatever they hit, causing damage which spreads from the point of impact until the energy was all used up. This is why Mass Effect barriers could block them, though they were less effective than when blocking projectile weapons.

Captain Cortez had a grim look on his face when he spoke. "Gentleman, I believe we have hostile first contact. Colonel Rezkov, please deploy all Mobile Suits and update Arcturus about the current status. Colonel Williams, please raise the alert to Defcon 1. I will deploy my Serpent Suits to the Capital shortly. I hope to see the Altron Gundam soon. Good luck everyone, Cortez Out." And with that, Cortez and Yao disconnected from the meeting.

Colonel Williams spoke next, "I am raising Defcon Alert status to 1. I will deploy my Men according to plan. Williams Out." He also disconnected.

Now it was just Colonel Rezkov and the two Gundam Pilots. Rezkov spoke at last, his scarred face unreadable "Gundam Pilots. Though in the past we have been on opposite sides of both the battlefield and ideals, I will gladly work with you to ensure the safety of the Civilians on the planet. I am deploying all Mobile Suits. Agent Wufei, I am putting you as a field commander. You will be able to override any orders given by my personnel in regards to the deployment of Taurus suits. I will not be able to provide support to forces on the ground due to the safety restrictions put in place, so I will be relying on both Colonel Williams and Agent Barton to do their duties. Rezkov out." He saluted them before also disconnecting.

Now it was just the two Gundam pilots in the conference room. Without saying a word they got up, nodded to each other and left to get ready. Trowa would be in charge of the Preventer forces on the ground, though operational command would be left to the unit commander who was there before them. He had also been briefed on the Defense plans, though he was not part of the Defense meetings. Wufei would head over to the space port, making sure it was evacuated and locked down before launching Nataku into space.

There were no words exchanged between the two of them. They knew their duties, and would protect this colony or die trying.

The Battle of Shanxi, the First Contact War, was about to begin.

* * *

AN:

And we're done with the first chapter! WHOOOHOOOOOO! Hopefully none of the main cast are too OOC. I think I did Wufei quite well.

I honestly didn't plan on this chapter ending here. I figured the first real chapter would also include the entirety of the First Contact War, but after fleshing out my writing style, I discovered that I would need to make that its own chapter. And if you think my writing style is similar, that's because I believe I have been heavily influenced by cywscross. Has some damn good storytelling, though I wish the Bleach stories would get updated soon.

Also, each chapter will be between 9,000 – 11,000 words, give or take a few hundred. This just feels like the right size for a FF chapter. Any longer and it seems like it's just dragging. Pretty sure my line breaks are going to look like crap. I'll fix those going forward, too lazy right now.

Pre-empt some questions here:

Why are they just Colonels and Captains? Shouldn't some of them be Generals?

Well, I decided to keep the Colonels because of Treize. He had the rank of Colonel, and he commanded basically the entire Military might of Earth. That's a lot of people. As such, much like how in the U.S. there are no Field Marshalls, only Generals, due to George Washington, the new Military does not want to promote people to General unless they have to (such as the people who are in charge of more than one planet), or they have proven themselves to be worthy of being higher ranked than Treize. Well, that's what I'm going with.

Why Batarians? Why not have them fight the Turians like in the game backstory?

Because that's boring, I want to mix it up a little bit. Most stories have humans fighting Turians, but I wanted something different for mine. Different, yet believable. After all, it's kind of hard to swallow that they would have hostile first contact with either the Salarians or Asari. Having first contact with the Hanar would be hilarious now that I think about it, but I won't do that either.

That's all I have for now. No ETA on the next chapter.

Peace.


	3. Chapter 3 - Battle of Shanxi

Chapter 3 – Battle of Shanxi

Jon'Anum was annoyed. Everything was going to plan. His forces were gathered and had successfully traveled through Relay 314 undetected. Most of those he had contacted had made the rendezvous at Torfan, with the exception of a few Merc bands and the unit that his brother Balak commanded. The probes were successfully hacked, and nothing else was detected in the system.

His ship was one of the first 30 that went through the Relay. He didn't go first as he wasn't stupid, but his anticipation was palpable. When his forward ships detected the alien ship 30,000 Km away, they asked what they should do. He angrily told them that they were to immediately destroy the ship and continue onwards.

But they failed doing something as simple as that, letting the ship escape to warn the Aliens. He ignored the ship commanders when they stated at least 10 shots hit the Frigate sized vessel, as that many shots should have completely obliterated such a ship, not even leaving enough to be salvaged. They must be lying to try to cover for their incompetence. No matter, with the ground forces he brought, as well as the two Dreadnoughts the Hegemony loaned him, victory was assured.

###############################################################################

Trowa and Wufei quickly made their way through the Preventers building. All around them, Agents were busy locking their work stations and arming themselves. The heavier weapons such as Assault Rifles, as well as the body armor, were locked in the Armory but each agent is armed with a handgun and was required to pass a proficiency test with it at least once every three months.

But they ignored all that, as both had their sights on the elevator that would take them to the underground MS bay. The Preventers Unit Commander was informed of the situation and was already in the Command Center along with his staff, ready to start coordinating with the Police and Military for the Defense. He had also been granted access to the MS bay as civilians unable to evacuate in time would need to be sheltered there. The Mini Dolls were also activated, all 20 provided to the Preventers, but without any idea of what the Aliens looked like they were set to only fire when fired upon. This would change after visuals were taken and uploaded, but for now this was the best way to ensure there were no Friendly Fire incidents.

The two finally reached the elevator, the doors opening as soon as they pushed the button. As the doors closed, Trowa pulled out his cellphone to call Catherine. The phone range three times before Catherine answered "Trowa? What's going on? We hear alarms blaring and the radio stated that all civilians need to evacuate to the underground transit system to get them to the shelters!"

"Catherine, we have hostile contact with an unknown alien race."

The line was silent for a few seconds before Catherine spoke again, "Say what? Tell me you're joking Trowa."

"Afraid not sis," Trowa grimaced, "Where are you now? I need you to come back into the city."

"We're about halfway to the Space port." Trowa could hear her telling the drivers to turn back towards the city on the Circus radio system "But where are we going to go? We can't take all the animals and everything into the transit system, they won't be big enough."

"I'm planning on having the circus take shelter in the Preventers MS Bay. It will be empty by the time you get here and it's the only place that is big enough to keep all of you safe without overcrowding everyone else."

"Ok, I remember where you said the entrance would be." She started giving directions to the other drivers. "Are you going to go fight?"

"That's the plan."

"All right then Trowa. Keep safe ok? Make sure to come back to us."

Trowa smiled at that. "Don't I always?" and hung up the phone.

Wufei was silent the whole time Trowa was on the call. He simply gave him a side glance before focusing once more on the elevator doors. They arrived at MS bay and quickly got out of the elevator.

As Trowa immediately went towards Heavy Arms Wufei instead went towards his locker. As he would be going into space he would first need to change into his space suit. Instead of the standard Preventers space suit, he instead had a black suit much like what they had on Peacemillion. They were custom fit for each Gundam Pilot and are more comfortable and maneuverable than the standard suits. It was also armored, as it was unknown when they would need to disembark from their Gundams to complete their objectives on foot.

Trowa meanwhile ran the final checks on both Gundams, making sure that there was nothing that would cause trouble. As everything came out green, he pulled out his radio and contacted the Preventers Commander, informing him that they would be launching momentarily as well as that the circus would be coming down soon becoming the first civilians to take shelter underneath the Preventers building.

He got the confirmation just as Wufei came out of the locker room, holding his helmet under his arm. "Are we ready to go?"

"Yes" Trowa replied.

"Good." Wufei immediately put on his helmet and entered Nataku with Trowa shortly entering Heavy Arms. He began the startup sequence and was rewarded with the area in front, above and to the sides of him reflecting the MS bay, rather than the inside of a Mobile Suit. Instead of having individual screens, the cockpit was instead one seamless screen giving a 270 Degree unobstructed field of view. All new Mobile Suits had the same cockpit system, though the old Leo and Aries suits still had their individual panels.

As the starting sequence finished, Wufei popped up on his right in a video call. "I'll go ahead and make my way to the Space Port to make sure it's locked down and evacuated. They should have Mobile Suit launch vehicles on standby."

Trowa replied, "Understood. I'll leave and meet up with the Serpent Suits, make sure they know what they're doing and where to go."

Wufei nodded at that. "Are you going to take the external package with you?" The external package was an Add-on specifically made for Heavy Arms. Nataku didn't have one, as Wufei believed that his Gundam was perfect the way it was.

"Yes. But I won't attach it yet, I just want to have it with me for when I need it."

"Affirmative. Good luck." And with that, Wufei disconnected and had Nataku make way to the exit of the MS bay. Trowa was right behind him, instructing the external package to follow Heavy Arms.

In the center of the City there was park with a large artificial lake as the centerpiece. The park was currently abandoned as the Civilians made their way to the underground rail system. But those still above ground felt shaking before they saw a large metal roadway appear, connecting the center of the lake with the edge of one of the shores. Soon afterwards, a shadow formed beneath the waters, growing larger every second before it burst from the surface. This large object was in fact the entrance to the Preventers MS bay. Large enough for three Mobile Suits to walk abreast, the gaping maw loomed over the lake like a path to Hades itself. But instead of horrors, what came out brought hope to anyone watching.

"It's a GUNDAM!" someone shouted.

It was indeed a Gundam, the Altron Gundam to be precise. The white, green and red Gundam is followed shortly after by the red and white Heavy Arms. The sight of the Gundams buoyed the spirits of those who witnessed them, and gave them hope that everything would end well.

As soon as the Altron Gundam stepped onto the shore it activated its Mass Effect Core, lightening the Gundam enough so that the Vernier thrusters are able to give it high speed flight in the gravity well of a planet. After rising to 100 Meters, it shot south towards the space port at just below the speed of sound.

Heavy Arms stepped onto shore and waited, instructing the package that followed it to wait out of the way of the ramp.

After six minutes of not moving, the head of the Gundam shifted to look up and to the west, where four large objects were falling from Space.

* * *

2nd Lieutenant David Anderson was currently falling through the atmosphere of Shanxi in his Serpent Suit. The metal and ceramic drop pod that surrounded his Suit made sure that nothing was damaged during re-entry, the ablative coating burning off and allowing him to reflect on the situation.

He had been in the mess, drinking coffee with some of the crew when Captain Cortez had come on the fleet wide intercom.

"Ladies and Gentleman this is not a drill. I say again, this is not a drill. As of ten minutes ago, we have Hostile First Contact with an unknown Alien race. I say again: We have Hostile First Contact with an unknown Alien race."

There was utter silence across the fleet when that announcement was made. But before they could break out of their shock the announcement continued.

"I am hereby enacting the Shanxi Defense Plan. All hands, report to General Quarters. All Taurus Suit Pilots prepare to deploy. All Serpent Suit Pilots prepare to drop to Shanxi. I say again: all hands are to report to General Quarters, all Taurus Suit Pilots prepare to deploy to space and all Serpent Suit Pilots prepare to drop to Shanxi.

"I know this is not what any of us wanted. We have all worked hard for the peace we obtained, regardless of which side we were on. We had hoped to have that peace continue. But now is not the time to have regrets. Now is not the time to ask questions. Now is the time to act. Unknown Aliens have appeared, threatening those who we swore to defend. It is our duty, our privilege, to be the first to deny the enemy their opportunity. To all those under my command I say to you Good luck. Cortez out."

There was silence once more before the alarms came on, jolting everyone out of their thoughts and moving them to action. Anderson immediately went towards the locker room to change into his pilot suit and everyone else was scrambling to lock everything down and get ready for battle.

His computer beeped, pulling him out of his thoughts and informing him that he was nearing deployment altitude. Watching the altitude gauge, he waited until he was at 20,000 Meters above ground before sending the signal to disengage the outer shell.

The shell broke apart, falling towards Shanxi far away from the Capital City. He immediately deployed his parachute as he had dropped to 15,000 Meters by the time he cleared the shell pieces. They deployed as ordered, gliding him gently towards the center of the Capital City. During his glide he could see that the other Mobile Suits were getting into place. His computer picked up 76 Suits on the ground going towards the Capital City: 60 Leo Suits and 16 Ground Suits. He grimaced at that, remembering how sluggish and slow the Leo suits were compared to the Ground Suit. He got another alert, stating that 8 Aries suits were detected in two groups of 4, doing maneuvers and reconnaissance both around the City and over the Military Base.

He dismissed the alert, focusing once again to make sure he didn't land on a building. As he got closer to the landing zone, the park in the middle of the City, his computer picked up the presence of a lone Mobile Suit. When the image of the Suit appeared before him, his breath caught in his chest. It was a Gundam. The red and white suit stood in the sunlight, looking at him with what seemed like disinterest.

Anderson was a part of the new generation of Mobile Suit Pilots. He hadn't fought in any of the previous Wars; he wasn't even old enough to join the Military when Mariemaia made her Coup attempt. But he always heard of Gundams spoken in whispers by those who had fought either alongside or against them. How skilled the individual Pilots were, the amount of Force they could bring to bear at any one time, the sheer unstoppable power they represented. How it was stated that "Should you set your eyes on a Gundam, you would not live to tell the tale." That thought was ingrained into every single person who Pilots a Mobile Suit, even though that was no longer true.

And now before him was the only Gundam that had not been destroyed during the entire AC 195 conflict. Even though he was Piloting a 16 Meter tall 8 ton suit, he felt like a small insignificant insect being looked upon by a giant.

He would have continued to gape at the Gundam had the computer not alerted him that he was just over 200 meters above ground, reminding him to prepare his thrusters for landing. He tore his eyes away from the Gundam just as his Suit crossed into the space above the park. He disconnected the parachutes from the connection points on the shoulders, firing his thrusters to bring him the last 50 meters down gently.

The other Serpent Suits landed beside him and formed up in a line directly across from Heavy Arms. There was a moment of silence before a radio channel opened up, connecting Heavy Arms to the four Serpents.

"This is the Pilot of the Heavy Arms, Codename Red Hawk. To whom am I speaking to?" There was no video and the voice was scrambled. His team leader spoke up.

"This is Lieutenant Commander Westchase, along with 1st Lieutenant Parker, 2nd Lieutenant Anderson and 2nd Lieutenant Nostra."

Hawk cut right to the chase "Have you been briefed on what your role in the Defense Plan is?"

"Yes," replied Lieutenant Commander Westchase, "we are to act as a Rapid Response Force and push back the attackers where they are most concentrated."

"Good" said Hawk, "for now, split into groups of two. One group is to go north and the other is to head south. Move to a point halfway between here and the edge of the City. You are to act as Anti-Air defense for the time being, ensuring that no forces land inside the city itself. Do all of you have the full complement of missiles loaded?"

"Yes." Each of them had 16 missiles stored in their shoulders, 8 on each side. They could be configured for either air or ground targets. He and Parker both had a single Dual Beam Gatling Gun as their main armament, much like Heavy Arms. But unlike Heavy Arms, their Gatling barrels were spaced further apart and they had no shields on them, unlike the ones Heavy Arms had attached to each arm. Westchase and Nostra both had Beam Cannons as their main weapon.

"Good. Sending you the coordinates to smaller parks like this one where you should be able to have a clear field of view. Proceed to the coordinates and engage at your own discretion."

And with that, the signal was cut and he received the coordinates to both north and south of his current location. Lieutenant Commander Westchase appeared on his screen. "Right people you heard Hawk. Anderson, you and I are going north. Nostra and Parker, you two go south. Use your missiles for smaller ships like dropships as they are our main Priority. Move Out."

They replied at once "Sir Yes Sir."

They all activated both their Element Zero cores the same time, lightening the Mobile Suits and activating the shields. They then activated their thrusters, lifting the Serpent suits to 50 meters above ground before heading off in their respective directions. As Anderson was going north, he could see the Marines traveling through the city in APCs and transport vehicles, as well as civilians evacuating to the underground transit system.

He reached his designated coordinates and landed, turning his attention to the sky and readying his weapons. A moment later, his Suit detected a launch from the south. The computer confirmed it is a Mobile Suit launch vehicle, used to bring Mobile Suits like his Serpent Suit back into space. He wondered what it carried but pushed the thought from his mind. He had a battle to prepare for.

* * *

Wufei exited the launch vehicle and immediately started going towards the Navy ships. They had formed up around the Titan Station, as they were unsure of direction the Alien fleet would come from. Each ship had a different number of weapons, but they were all shaped similarly. The Frigates have a single barreled Beam Turret facing the front and one facing the back. The Cruisers have two double barreled Beam Turrets facing forward and one facing towards the rear. The Destroyers, which are more arrow shaped than the others, have one twin Turret on the top of the ship and one on the bottom, both facing forwards. It also has a Buster Cannon equal to half the strength of the Buster Rifle as the Destroyer is primarily designed to fight other ships.

He had ensured that the space port was empty, scanning the entire area twice before checking to make sure all doors and gates were locked. He then sent the Mini Dolls stationed at the space port to report to Preventers headquarters. There was no way they would be able to hold the space port with the forces they had, so he figured it was best to send them where they could do the most good. He informed the Preventers Commander of his actions and got the Mobile Suit Launch Vehicle ready, setting the Titan Station as the destination and launched Nataku into space.

Now he was about to link up with the Navy ships which have yet to deploy their Taurus Suits. Once in position next to the SSV _Iron Will_ , he opened up a voice only comm channel to both Captain Cortez and Colonel Rezkov, remembering to turn on his voice scrambler.

"This is Green Dragon. What is the current situation?"

"This is Captain Cortez. My Serpent Suits have been deployed to Shanxi while my 68 Taurus Suits are waiting to launch. The Saratoga is currently being repaired by Titan Station Theia, and all other ships are at Battle Stations with shields and weapons warmed up."

"This is Colonel Rezkov. All Virgo suits have been deployed, Taurus suits are on standby. Shields are raised and the Noventa Cannon is charging. I have already contacted Arcturus with the situation and am waiting their response. Captain Cortez, when do you think we could expect re-enforcements?"

The line was silent for a few seconds while Cortez thought of the answer. "Most likely 3 to 5 days. Depending on the deployment of the fleets at Arcturus, we could get back up in as little as two days but it could take up to a week and a half if they were in the middle of maneuvers. What about the Preventers, can they get anything out to us soon?"

The Preventers had a small fleet, consisting of a 6 Frigates and 3 Cruisers as well as a Carrier. "No." replied Wufei, "Our Carrier is on Earth for downtime, so they won't be able to get to us for at least a week. The rest are spread out across the Colonies. We have a single Cruiser at Arcturus, but they would wait for the Response Fleet to gather before coming here themselves. Colonel Rezkov, when do you expect a reply back from Arcturus?"

"We should be getting a reply back in the next 20 minutes. I have ordered my Communications Officer to send updates every hour on our situation." Replied the Colonel.

"Good. Now we wait. Good luck Gentleman, Dragon out." Wufei cut the connection and once more waited for War.

############################################################################

Jon'Anum was confused. He had been going over the information his scanners picked up for the last hour and it didn't match up with what he expected. The information he got 3 months ago from his probe indicated that there would be nothing but an undefended city here. But now there was a massive space station and a sizeable fleet of ships. Not too many to hinder him, but more than there should be. They must have re-enforced this Colony after the activation of the Mass Relay. No matter, he brought enough forces to overwhelm anything on the ground and in space. He contacted the Dreadnoughts from his Cruiser, connecting him to Admiral Tolan and Captain Khad'rack.

"Admiral, Captain. Do you have the updated data?"

"Yes sir" replied Admiral Tolan, "The ships shouldn't be too difficult but I am worried about that space station. If it has defenses on it our ships in orbit will not be able to provide support to the ground troops."

"Your advice has been noted. But do not forget we have a large number of Mercs joining us, being nothing but dead weight in a Space battle. So this is the plan: Admiral Tolan, you will lead your Dreadnought, all the Cruisers except my own and half the Frigates to attack that Space station and keep them busy. Destroy it if possible; we can recover the technology from the wreckage. Captain Khad'rack, you will hold back and cover the ground troops as they make planet fall, coordinating the remaining Frigates to best cover the dropships and transport ships. I want to own the space above the city before we start landing troops. Is this understood?"

Admiral Tolan wanted to speak up and state that this was a bad plan. But he knew the tone he heard from Jon'Anum. It was the type of tone that states no backtalk or questioning of orders would be tolerated. And even though he is an Admiral in the Batarian Navy, he knew Jon'Anum out ranked him considerably. Having worked his way up without the aid of family or money he had earned his position by knowing when to fight against orders and when to keep quiet. Captain Khad'rack however, had gotten his posting the old fashioned way: with family money and family connections. Tolan would not have trusted him in command of a Frigate much less a Dreadnought. But Batarian society revolved around who you were related to and how much money you could spend, and the Military was no different. A Private could become a General overnight, and many had. He loved his people but they frustrated him to no end sometimes. Hopefully, he and Durnok would be able to keep the stupidity to a minimum.

Khad'rack responded before he could, "We will crush these worthless aliens, and they will know the glory that is to serve the true rulers of the Galaxy, THE BATARIANS! GLORY TO THE HEGEMONY!" Tolan wanted to thrust his hands through the projectors and manifest them on the other Dreadnought, just so he could choke Khad'rack for his stupidity. That statement alone showed his incompetence. Those 'worthless aliens' had built a 4 Km long space station. Either it was built in place over the planet or moved there from somewhere else. Comparing the current data with the 3 month old data led him to believe that they would have moved the station, as they would not have the infrastructure to build such an object in that short amount of time. That was actually more impressive than building it in the first place, as getting a station of that size to move without breaking in half was something beyond the current Citadel races. They would have to build a station that size at the location they wanted it. The Mass Effect core of a space station provides artificial gravity and possibly shields if they used twice the Eezo. But using that Mass Effect field for FTL travel was actually not possible yet, due the field harmonics destabilizing for anything larger than the Destiny Ascension. Sure they could build it in sections and move it in place, but it would take a cargo ship bigger than a Dreadnought multiple trips to even move a quarter of a station that size. No, it was far more cost effective to build it in place than move it. But Khad'rack wouldn't know any of that as he spent most of his time playing with his slaves rather than studying the strengths and weaknesses of the known races. To him, all aliens were below the lowest Batarian and nothing would change his mind.

Jon'Anum grinned at the eagerness of the Captain. He knew the true place that Batarians held in the Universe, a place that was currently denied to them by lesser species who thought they were their betters. One day the Batarians would rule this Galaxy. "Good. Move out." And with that he disconnected the comms. He then sent the coordinates of the planet to the fleet, instructing all ships to make an FTL jump near it.

A few minutes later the entire Slaver fleet went into FTL, appearing moments later about 1 Million Km from the planet. As they neared, the Dreadnought _Fist of Glory_ moved forward with roughly 1/3 of the ships in the fleet. The other Dreadnought _Legacy of Greatness_ stayed back with half the Frigate class ships to screen the transports. Those ships were mostly empty, having a few guards and Mercs onboard for security of the captives. He instructed the ground forces to start loading into the dropships. They would make planet fall soon.

###########################################################################

Colonel Rezkov watched the main screen from the Command Deck of the Titan Station, 50,000 Km above the Capital City of Shanxi. It had been over an hour since the Saratoga had been fired upon. The Aliens had come from the 'west' of the planet much like he expected them to. This was due to the position of the Relay in relationship with the planet itself. Though the Relay stayed in place, the planet followed the counter clockwise orbit of most planets.

He spoke to his command crew, "Launch all Taurus Suits, have them form up 1,000 Km in front of us. Make sure they are out of the way of our weapons. What is the status of the Noventa Cannon and Shields?"

One of the crew member replied, "All Taurus Suits are launching now. The Navy ships have also moved forward to 5,000 Km in front of us. Noventa Cannon is fully charged and Shields are at 100%."

Rezkov nodded to himself, "Good. Comms, when they get within 800,000 Km of us hail them." Several of the command staff turned to look at him in surprise. "I know they fired first but if we can get through this without bloodshed I am more than willing to overlook the attack on a single Frigate, considering they only damaged it with no loss of life." The staff looked unsure but they got ready to carry out his orders. Rezkov knew it was a useless gesture but he had lost enough friends and fought too many meaningless conflicts to not give peace a chance, no matter how low the likelihood.

Slowly but surely, the Alien fleet came. They had split into two groups. The one heading towards him was made up of bulky, brutal looking ships. But he knew they were designed for combat, and that had him on edge. The other group consisted of ships that looked aesthetically similar but had a different design. If he had to guess, they were troop transport ships. But that would be for later as right now he had to focus on the group closest to him. As they crossed the 800,000 Km mark, the Comms officer opened a broadcast channel on all frequencies.

"This is Colonel Rezkov of the Human Systems Alliance to the Alien fleet. You are impeding on sovereign space without our permission. Leave or be fired upon."

Captain Cortez opened a vid channel at this point "Rezkov!" he yelled angrily "What are you doing!?"

"I am giving them a chance to leave without further violence." Replied the Colonel calmly.

Cortez was flabbergasted "What do you mean 'give them a chance to leave'? They obviously came here for a fight. They won't leave that easily, even if they could understand you."

"I know" he said with gritted teeth, "but if doing this prevents the death of even a single person then it is worth it." After the Mariemaia coup, he was ashamed of his actions. Before the pardon, he spent most of his time reflecting on why he did what he did. When he realized that it was just to give himself purpose, to give himself meaning, the nearly lost his will to live with the sheer selfishness of his choices. But then Miss Relena, former Queen of the World, spoke up in a live broadcast to the whole of Humanity, asking that the ones who had wronged her so be forgiven for their actions. He remembers her speech, having memorized every word.

"Greetings, people of Earth and the Colonies. I am sending this message in hopes that you will be able to forgive those who were manipulated into attacking us. As much as we wish them to be, these people are not evil. They are but lost souls, people who were discarded after it was decided we didn't need them anymore. They looked for meaning and were tricked into believing that their only purpose was to fight, to die in battle at the orders of others. But they are so much more than that. They are human beings, just like you and I. They have hopes. They have dreams. They have ambitions. They could be so much more than they are now, if only we give them this chance. But most of all, they are soldiers. They are the people that take the hardships and suffering of war upon their own shoulders so that those who cannot handle such a burden do not need to. They are the ones who take it upon themselves to shield us from the horrors of battle. So I ask you, do not let an entire generation suffer for the mistakes of a few. Do not once again discard those who fought so hard on our behalf. Embrace them as you would your own and watch as they become more than anyone could hope them to be." She stopped talking at this point and smiled. It was a smile of understanding and compassion, a smile meant for those who had wronged her and had spit in the face of her ideals and everything she had worked for. It was a smile that said she had forgiven them, and truly believed everything she just said. "Thank you."

That speech had shattered the remaining foundations of the world he had built for himself. And from the pieces left over he built himself anew. He took her words to heart and made it the basis of who he is. When the decision to pardon them all came through a month later he immediately joined the military once more, determined to live up to the ideals she had entrusted them with. He wasn't the only one affected, as over 90% of those who had been part of Mariemaia's army had also joined up. Some may have done so because they didn't know what else to do but for him, he knew his purpose in life. That purpose was to protect others. So if his actions could save even a single life he would do so without hesitation.

He once again broadcast his message on all channels "This is Colonel Rezkov of the Human Systems Alliance to the unknown Alien Fleet: Leave now or be fired upon, this is your last warning."

He waited for a few minutes before looking at his Comms officer who shook her head, indicating that there was no response. He hoped that it was merely because they had incompatible systems rather than a disregard of their message, but knew differently. He turned to the weapons officer, "When they reach 500,000 Km from us get ready to fire the Noventa Cannon. Aim for the largest concentration of ships. Try to get the large one if possible." The weapons office nodded and started inputting targeting commands to the main cannon.

He then turned to Captain Cortez. "Be ready" he said, and cut the connection.

Slowly but surely the alien fleet came closer and closer. They then crossed the boundary he had set. Rezkov closed his eyes before taking a deep breath. When he opened his eyes again they were the ice cold, without an ounce of warmth in them. He looked at the Alien fleet once more and then ordered,

"Fire."

* * *

Admiral Tolan was approaching the station slowly with his fleet of ships, ignoring the repeated hails. The Alien fleet was arrayed before him in a strange pattern. They were above and to the side of station. None of them were directly in front of it, which gave him a bad feeling. He also detected several hundred unknown objects, about halfway between the size of a dropship and a frigate. They must be their version of fighters but having so many didn't make sense. There was also a very large hole in the station itself, which was probably an exhaust vent for the power plant or a docking station of some kind as it was too large to be a Mass Effect Cannon. But to leave such a weakness exposed was a major design flaw, one that should have been fixed before the station was built. Well, it didn't make sense to him but who knew how these Aliens thought.

As he was about the give the order to fire his sensor tech spoke up in alarm. "ADMIRAL! I'm getting a large energy buildup coming from the station! It's off the charts; it has to be a weapon of some kind!"

Tolan looked back to a zoomed in picture of the alien station. He could see the large hole start glowing a bright red. He opened up the comm to all the ships with him "ALL SHIPS BREAK OFF AND RISE, BREAK OFF AND RISE! INCOMING FIRE!"

The ships immediately obeyed as they had also detected the energy buildup. As they were halfway to completing their maneuver, the alien station let loose with its weapon.

The last thing Admiral Tolan saw was a bright red light, before his ship and half the ships with him were obliterated.

* * *

The destruction caused by the Noventa Cannon on the Batarian fleet was indescribable. There was nothing left of any ship that was within the energy blast. Even the ships that were on the edge of the beam were overwhelmed before their Element Zero cores detonated. The beam lasted 7 seconds before slowly dimming, flickering a few times before dissipating.

Of the 130 ships that had set off to attack the Titan Station, less than 50 were left. Most of those were Frigates, as the Cruisers had been nearer to the Dreadnought than they had been. Now leaderless, they weren't prepared when the Taurus suits rocketed forward at high speed. Afraid for their lives, all the ships turned tail and went back to the remaining fleet, going to full retreat before the Taurus suits made it even a quarter of the way to them.

With this, the Navy ships moved to high orbit above Shanxi, about 4,000 Km above the Capital City, while the Taurus suits returned to the station. After that opening shot they knew the Aliens would be in panic mode. It was best to be on the safe side and not pursue. After all, it would take at least 10 minutes for the Cannon to be ready for another shot.

* * *

Jon'Anum looked on in horror at what he just witnessed. The energy output from that one blast was enough to power the entire Citadel for month. Nothing he had, nothing the Hegemony had, nothing the Citadel Species had could possibly stand up to even a glancing blow of that weapon. And on top of that he had lost a Dreadnought. He could put the blame on the Admiral, seeing as he is nothing but space dust and atoms at this point, but as he is in charge of the operation he would also get the blame. Losing a Dreadnought would bring the wrong kind of attention on the Hegemony, especially if they wanted to keep everything quiet. But for now he had to make sure this entire endeavor wasn't a total loss. The ships that survived had returned and formed up around the transports. The only reason the transports were spared is because they had moved towards the planet, out of direct line of fire. He made the next decision hastily "All ships, enter low orbit of the Garden World NOW! They won't fire that weapon at us then, it would cause irreparable harm to the planet. When we get into orbit, make for the other side of the planet. The ships they have don't seem to be following us, it will buy us some time."

The remaining ships made full burn towards the planet, heading for the far side of where that station is located. After what seemed like hours, they entered the dark side of the planet, safe from that monstrosity of a weapon. Now they waited, hoping that Jon'Anum would tell them to retreat.

He would do no such thing. The cost of this operation was high to begin with. The amount of manpower and resources it takes to pull a raid like this off was not insignificant, and that was before taking into account the fee for the Shadow Broker's services. No, they had to salvage something from this debacle he just had to think of a plan. Pulling up his Omni-tool, he brought up the data he had on the force deployment of the Aliens. After two hours of planning, he contacted Captain Khad'rack and Major Durnok. The two appeared before him, their holograms reflecting their nervousness and fear.

He addressed them immediately, "Captain, Major, there has been a change of plans."

"Are we retreating?" asked Captain Khad'rack, not even attempting to hide the hope in his voice.

"Of course not. We have to salvage something from this operation, especially with the loss of a Dreadnought. I have come up with a new strategy that should allow us to get what we came for."

Major Durnok spoke up, "Sir, I don't think it will be worth the-"

He was cut off "I DON'T CARE WHAT YOU THINK! I only care that you follow my orders. We are going ahead with the operation. Captain Khad'rack, you will take most of the remaining cruisers and half the Frigates to attack that station, keep their attention away from the rest of us. Major Durnok will take 4 Frigates and cover the drop ships as they enter the atmosphere of the planet and attack the city. I will take the remaining combat ships and keep the Alien fleet occupied. We still outnumber them and should be able to destroy them by attrition."

Both Batarians looked stupefied that he would still want to attack these beings. Khad'rack spoke up again, "Sir, I agree with Major Durnok that –"

"I DO NOT CARE WHAT YOU THINK CAPTAIN! WHAT PART OF THAT SENTENCE DID YOU NOT UNDERSTAND! If either of you refuse to do as I say I will strip you of rank and have your entire extended families moved to the lowest slave Cast where all of you will spend the rest of your miserable lives CLEANING THE SEWERS WITH YOUR TONGUES! Do you understand me?!"

Jon'Anum had to take several deep breaths after shouting like that, but he got the point across. A man in his position is capable of carrying out that threat. He had indeed turned several members of the Batarian Military into slaves, though this is the first time he had threatened their families. But he would follow through with that threat, and every Batarian in the system knew it. Left with a choice of likelihood of death vs the assurance of slavery, the two officers chose Death.

Jon'Anum saw the officers lower their eyes in defeat and nodded to himself. This would work, they just need to get their men on the ground and overpower the civilian population. Then he would hold them hostage in their ships, making sure that they would be able to leave without getting destroyed. A few minutes later, all the ships started moving towards the other side of the planet towards the rear of the station. None of them wanted to get in front of that weapon.

############################################################################

Two and a half hours. That's how long it had been since Wufei had last seen the enemy. But after seeing the power of the Noventa Cannon he couldn't fault them for going into hiding. But now the Saratoga is reporting that they are coming once more. Since the Saratoga had one of the best sensors available due to its original mission, it was decided to have her enter the equivalent of Lunar Orbit above the planet to keep an eye on the Aliens fleet movement. Some of the damage she sustained is also unfixable outside a dry dock, so her combat worthiness is the lowest of all ships present.

The Aliens are approaching from the east side of the planet, probably with the hopes that the Titan Station only had the Noventa Cannon facing one way. Well, they were going to get a rude awakening if that's what they hoped for. He is with the Fleet as they had less firepower than the Titan Station. Now he just had to wait for the Aliens to make their move.

And make their move they did. The entire fleet made a micro FTL jump, surrounding the Titan Station on the top and sides, as well as moving to the north, south and east of the Defense Fleet. The original plan of having the ships surround the Titan Station had to be changed when only half of the Alien fleet attacked the station originally. No plan survives contact with the enemy, and even with Aliens it is no different.

As the Defense Fleet started moving into position their Taurus Suits were finally launched. Wufei went with half the suits to attack the 'east' group of Aliens, while the other half attacked the 'north' and 'south' groups.

The Alien fleet were not idle however, as they started firing as soon as they orientated on the Defense Fleet. Wufei confirmed that they only shot with Mass Effect cannons, no energy weapons were detected. The shots traded passed underneath the Mobile Suits, as they had moved 'up' in order to stay out of the line of fire of both groups of ships. Above him, he could see that the Titan Station was firing with everything they had, with dozens of Beam Cannons being fired by the Station itself while the Virgo Suits added their own effort. He detected the launch of the Titan's own Taurus suits, which made top speed towards the Enemy Fleet.

Now he was about to engage them. He pulled his Beam Trident off his back and activated it, turning on his afterburners to get even further ahead of the Taurus suits. As he got to the effective range of the Taurus Beam rifles, the enemy ships started firing lasers at them forcing all Suits to start making evasive maneuvers. Luckily, the incoming fire wasn't that accurate so no one had gotten shot down. In response the 34 Suits launched their payload of missiles. Each Taurus Suit carried 4 missiles in a pod on each leg, on the outside part of the calf. The enemy lasers started targeting these missiles but only shot a few down before they impacted with the shields, greatly weakening them. They didn't manage to take down the shields, but they accomplished their main goal which was to distract the AA from the incoming Suits.

But now he didn't have time to think about them. He hurtled towards the first ship, screaming at the top of his lungs as he thrust the Beam Trident forward. The shields initially stopped the beam from penetrating, but they quickly failed at the amount of force the Gundam was exerting. The shields collapsed and he was able to pierce the ship, going in the top and exiting the bottom. With so much of the ship destroyed, it stopped firing and started listing to one side as erratic commands flooded the propulsion system and explosions started going around off the hole he created before it broke in two. With that ship taken out of the fight, Wufei targeted another enemy vessel.

By now the Taurus Suits had entered to close combat with the ships, transforming into their more maneuverable forms. It took about ten shots for the shields of the Frigate sized vessels to break, and another dozen or so shots for the ship to be destroyed. All this was happening in Wufei's periphery, as he jabbed his trident into the side of another ship, moving forward at high speed to increase the damage, breaking the shields and creating a gash on the starboard side from the bow to the stern. After he made his pass, explosions started rocking the ship along the gash until the fuel for the engines ignited, destroying what was left.

After finishing that maneuver he stopped and spun in place, deploying his Stingers to target another vessel that a squad of 4 Taurus Suits is having trouble with. His added firepower brought down the shields when he then started targeting the engines. He must have hit something important as the ship seemed to lose all power before drifting listlessly in place. Turning, he looked for a new target as the Taurus Suits seemed to have everything handled where he was. So he is looking for targets of opportunity when he saw a ship larger than the others. He would guess it was a Cruiser from the dimensions alone, and it was surrounded by 3 Frigate sized ships.

Having found his next target, he activated his thrusters and ignored everything else around him. The Cruiser must have realized it was the target, as that ship and the ships screening it started firing on him. He weaved through the incoming fire with ease, piercing through another Frigate and attacking another one with his Stinger Tail, and then he was upon the cruiser. He once again thrust his Trident into the shields, and stabbed it into the ship when they broke, but instead going through the ship he came to a halt just in front of the bridge. Standing up, he focused on the windows which gave him this first look at the Aliens. They were an ugly looking thing, brownish red skin that appeared to have been scarred by a fire. As all the others he could see looked the same, he figured that it was what they actually looked like. They had 4 eyes a nose and a mouth, and are wearing some type of armor. He recorded everything and then engaged his left Dragon Fang. He saw the Aliens panicking before the Dragon Fang pierced the bridge. He wasn't done, as after making sure the Dragon Fang is embedded as deep as it could go, he activated the Plasma Throwers that replaced his Flamethrowers. Though it had less fuel than the original Flamethrower, it made up for that fact by being much hotter and having greater range in space. The heat was so great in fact that it melted any metal near it, carving a direct path to engineering as well as detonating the atmosphere of the ship. The damage it caused destabilized the Mass Effect core and the ship blew up in a purple and blue fireball.

The crew of the remaining Frigates surrounding the Cruiser looked on in horror as one of the few Cruisers left was taken down easily by a giant mech. The only good thing they could think of was that the robot was also destroyed in the explosion. But when the light and flames abated, it showed that the robot was still intact. There weren't even any scorch marks on the machine. The crews of the Frigate started to orient the G.A.R.D.I.A.N. lasers on it when the other black robots came and started firing on them. Too late, they attempted to shoot them down but were destroyed before they could hit even a single one.

Wufei didn't move from his spot. The Destruction of the ship was unexpected, but not unwelcome. A quick diagnostic showed that Nataku is still operating at peak efficiency, though shields were down to quarter strength due to the explosion. Looking around once more, he observed that the Alien ships were retreating from the battle though with only about 60% of the numbers they started out with. Data from his sensors notified him that the other Alien battle groups were also retreating, having sustained between 35-50% casualties.

It was a short battle and Wufei didn't understand why they executed such a badly though out plan. They should have concentrated on either the Titan Station or the Defense Fleet, as neither could move from their position for their own reasons. The Station couldn't move as that was as low as they could get without a rapidly decaying orbit. The Fleet couldn't move unless they wanted to let the Colony be vulnerable to direct bombardment. It didn't matter to him but the stupidity of a living enemy always put him on edge. The only thing he could think of to explain it was that they did not expect the Mobile Suits to be as effective as they were. No matter, now that they knew they would be far more cautious with their approach.

He started ordering all the Taurus Suits to fall back, when his sensors picked up ships entering the atmosphere. From the size, they were mainly drop ships and troop transport ships, being guarded by 4 Frigates. They were already in the atmosphere, so the Space forces could do nothing at this point to stop them. He opened up a comm channel to the ground forces.

* * *

" _This is Green Dragon to all ground forces. The Aliens have launched dropships and are heading towards the City from the east. They have already entered the atmosphere and have 4 Frigates as support. ETA is 6 minutes._ "

With that announcement, Trowa one more prepared Heavy Arms for combat. Over 95% of the Civilians had been evacuated with the rest either in the Preventers MS bay or one of the other hardened structures. Not bad for 4 hours work. He listened in on the Ground Forces radio where Colonel Williams was re-directing them to the eastern side of the city, leaving only a few units to guard the west. When Williams started talking about when to engage, he cut in using his override privileges.

"This is Red Hawk to all ground forces. I will be initiating the opening volley on the incoming enemy forces. Do not fire until I say so."

There was a pause until Williams ordered all forces to do as Red Hawk says. With that, Trowa connected the external package to his Gundam. Painted white and red like Heavy Arms, it is a combination missile launcher, power supply and gun platform. Two extra Dual Gatling guns settled into place on the outside of his shoulders, bringing the number of Gatling guns he had available to 8. Two Mega Beam Cannons settled into place beside the head, and a small portion of his chest opened up to reveal the green sensor that would be used to track and engage enemies. To make his Gundam more suited for frontline fighting, the Gatling guns in the chest were removed and in their place was an extra power generator for his weapons and an oversized element zero core for better shielding. With the external package attached, his power generation increased by 150%, though maneuverability is severely reduced due to it not having an Eezo core. That was because it is designed for static defense of a location, not for full out assault.

Just as the startup sequence finished his sensors detected the incoming Alien dropships. There were hundreds of them, including what seemed to be gunships as well as the 4 Frigates. Though he could open fire now they were too far away to for his armaments to be at maximum effectiveness. So he waited, letting them come closer of their own volition. As they passed over the mountains he activated both his thrusters and mass effect core, launching Heavy Arms to 200 meters above the City. Once he reached altitude, Heavy Arms steadied itself in the air before unleashing Hell.

At once, all 8 Beam Gatling Guns opened fire destroying any and all ships he hit. Dozens were destroyed in seconds, and then he opened up with his payload of missiles. 12 Homing missiles from his shoulders, 24 micro missiles from the calf pods and 48 anti-MS missiles from the external unit all raced forward towards the enemy. Trowa watched, detached, as the missiles slammed into their targets, obliterating them with ease. He continued firing his Beam Gatling Guns, taking more and more ships down when his attention was diverted by incoming fire. The Frigates had correctly identified him as a major threat and were firing lasers at his position. However, they did not know about the atmospheric distortion unique to Shanxi's atmosphere, as the lasers missed him by a comfortable (to him) margin. So he ceased firing his Gatling Guns and readied the Mega Beam Cannons. Once target lock on the nearest Frigate was confirmed the Cannons let loose their payload.

It was complete overkill.

One Mega Beam Cannon would be able to destroy a Resource Satellite. Two firing at once would be able to destroy a Titan Station. The explosion caused a shockwave so violent it sent many of the dropships into freefall if not outright destroying them, as well as causing a minor earthquake. The next nearest Frigate continued firing on him and as it would take too long for the Beam Cannons to charge up again, he instead returned fire with the Gatling Guns. Tens, Dozens, Hundreds of beams struck the Frigate, taking down the shield and gutting the ship with the amount of firepower brought upon it. Another Mass Effect core destabilized, causing another explosion which made more dropships crash. He focused fire once more on the weaving dropships. As they were halfway between the city and the mountains, he opened comms with the ground units. "All Forces, weapons free."

And with that order the other Mobile Suits added their own firepower into the battle. Most of the Leo Suits were outfitted with Beam Rifles just like what the Ground Suits used, but 12 Leos and 3 Ground Suits had Dober Guns. The Dober Guns were the last non-Beam weapons used by Mobile Suits, as it was designed to be an artillery piece. Firing a 240 mm shell set to airburst, the caseless rounds soared through the air slower than their Beam counterparts but caused far more devastation when detonated. Each shell took down at least 3 dropships, either blowing them up in the air or damaging them enough to force them to crash.

It was at this point the dropship pilots realized the folly of attempting to land in the city and most decided to land in the open field as soon as possible. However, about 150 decided to go even faster to reach the safety of the City, as they figured such large robots would have trouble fighting in an urban environment. Their hopes were dashed when a swarm of missiles came at them from the north and south. Evasive maneuvers and countermeasures were mostly useless, as 53 ships were taken down in that one volley. More of the bright energy blast came at them in a rapid pace from the City itself, taking down more ships. With the combined firepower of the still flying robot and incoming fire from the ground, only 17 ships made it intact, the others either having been destroyed or forced into a crash landing.

Trowa ceased firing and surveyed the scene before him. The enemy dropships had either landed on the grassy plain to the east, been destroyed or are retreating back into space. A few had landed in the City, but the Marines stationed on the ground would be able to deal with them. And if they could not, that's what he was there for.

He started his descent back to ground level, as the power supply for the external unit is nearly spent. Halfway down, one of the remaining Alien Frigates started firing on him. Before he could respond a volley of missiles struck the side of the Frigate, bringing down the shield and pushing it off course. The Aries Suits had joined the fight. After the missile volley, they opened up with their Beam Rifles. The Beam Rifles are the exact same model that the Taurus suits use, just calibrated for working in the atmosphere. Each hit caused a mini explosion on the ship, and it didn't take long before it became too damaged to fly. Unwilling to let a damaged enemy ship crash into Shanxi, the Serpent Suits opened fire on the crippled ship with their Beam Cannons, striking the bottom of the ship while the Aries Suits kept pounding away at its sides. They stopped firing once a large explosion disintegrated the aft of the ship, leaving less than 1/3 of it to crash onto the surface.

Now there was just one Frigate left, and it was retreating back into Space with the few dropships that decided not to land. Trowa touched down back in the park, checking his energy readings. He had just enough to fire both Mega Beam Cannons at half strength. Afterwards, the external unit would need to be re-charged. So he once more locked target on an Alien Frigate. Once he was sure that it was well past the mountain range he opened fire, destroying the Frigate and a quarter of the retreating dropships.

Satisfied with the result, he disengaged the external unit, collapsing it into its compact form. Now it was up to the Marines to finish off the Aliens in the City.

##############################################################################

Gorvon jumped out of his dropship, ordering what was left of his men to fan out and secure their landing spot. He was lucky as his ship actually landed, rather than get shot down or blown up.

He was in a bad mood, as most of the Krogan and almost all of the Vorcha under his command were dead before he had even set foot on the planet. It wasn't the first time he had lost soldiers to circumstances beyond his control, but usually he was informed before the operation began that he was going into a hot landing zone. He had also never lost so many in a single battle. Heh, calling what they went through a battle was like saying a Krogan and a Salarian fighting with only their fists a fair fight. His side got completely screwed, and he should have seen it coming.

The first indication that something was wrong was when the fleet was split between combat vessels and transport ships shortly after going through the Mass Relay. They should have settled in orbit before doing so. Splitting the forces up after just getting into the system meant something went wrong. Still, the space battle had nothing to do with him as he couldn't do anything until they were planet side anyways. So he ordered his men into their dropships, telling them to get ready.

The second indication something had gone wrong was when he had to wait for two hours before they moved again. Well, after waiting for an hour he ordered all his men out and then stormed the Bridge of the transport ship they were in, demanding to know what was going on. Jon'Anum had not been answering his calls, so he went to the ship captain and threatened him for information. It worked, but the info he received was lacking. They had found a large space station above the planet belonging to the unknown aliens and had decided to destroy it. A large number of ships had broken off to destroy the station, but they failed to do so. Apparently, the aliens had destroyed a large number of ships but the Captain didn't know how many as he wasn't part of the Military and so was not kept in the loop. Gorvon tossed him aside and went back to the dropship, contacting Rina in the process. She also did not know what was going on either but she overheard several of the Batarian Military personnel conversing on the comms, and they were stating that they should retreat back through the Relay as they had taken too many losses already. At this point an announcement was made that the drop to the planet surface was imminent. Annoyed, he tried to contact Jon'Anum again but had no success. He should have commandeered the transport ship, killed anyone who tried to stop him and left the system. But the credits were too good to pass up.

So he ordered his men back into the dropships and waited. After breaking the atmosphere, he got out of his seat and went to the cockpit to see what was going on. It was a nice looking planet, normal green grass and blue sky, clouds, all the normal stuff of a Garden World. He looked towards Space, seeing bright lights and the tell-tale explosions of element zero cores. He couldn't tell who was winning, but the fighting didn't last long so someone got their quad ripped off and handed to them. He was about to try to contact Jon'Anum again when he got an incoming call from Rina. Accepting the vid call, he was surprised to see her look worried.

Rina spoke hurriedly "We need to get out of here."

Not that surprised at her outburst, he still calmly asked "Why do you say that?" He agreed with her, but wanted to make sure that she was leaving for the right reasons, not because she got cold feet at the last second.

"Because the Batarian Fleet just got their ass kicked" she replied "and if we stay too long we may not be able to leave while breathing."

He got a confused look on his face at her statement. "What do you mean they got their ass kicked? There were over a hundred combat ships. I've seen the colony, there's no way they could support enough ships to defend this place from that kind of assault."

"Well they did" she snapped "they have some kind of giant transforming robots that completely overwhelmed the ships when they attacked. They also have a 4 Km long space station with a ridiculous amount of firepower and even more of those robots. The Batarian Fleet is down to less than half strength and the chances of getting out of here alive don't seem to be getting any better. We HAVE to leave the system and soon."

"How do you know all that?" he demanded "I haven't been able to get anything out of the captain of the ship I was on and Jon'Anum keeps ignoring my calls."

"He's been ignoring mine as well. But you know I came in my own transport ship, I didn't trust any of the Batarians captains to not try and get fresh with me and my girls, so I was able to get the information directly from my pilot. Jon'Anum is probably not answering because both of us can tell if he's lying, and if we caught him lying to us we would take our people and leave."

Gorvon had to agree with her there. It didn't matter how well they did on the ground if they couldn't get back out. And having a large number of ships be destroyed upped the risk greatly. The main risk he agreed to before was being caught going through an unknown relay and being hunted down for the rest of his life by the Citadel Council. Seeing as he's already wanted, it wasn't too big a deal to him.

"I agree with you that we should leave and soon, but why bring me in on this?" he asked suspiciously.

Rina smirked "Because the more ships leave the less likely we will get shot down. Safety in numbers and all that."

He grinned at that. He wouldn't believe her if she had said she was being nice, but making sure she had the greatest chance of escape was something he could understand and appreciate. It made her offer more believable to him.

He was about to agree when the bright lights and explosions started rocking the air around them. He looked out the cockpit and could see dozens of dropships being destroyed by what looked like bright yellow lasers. Next came a veritable wall of missiles that took out even more ships. The Frigates finally started doing their jobs of protecting them, making whatever was shooting them cease fire, but that respite didn't last long as two large very bright beams of light shot towards one of the Frigates, completely destroying it and causing an explosion far larger than a ship that size could have produced. The enemy weapon then focused its attention on another Frigate, bringing it down with what seemed to be hundreds of light beams. Finally, even more beams of light started coming up from the ground, and great explosions started erupting all around them.

He turned his focus back to his Omni-tool, about to tell Rina to start the plan when he noticed all that was on the vid screen was static, with a notification that connection had been lost. If the call had been ended the vid would have turned off with a 'call ended' notification making it more than likely that she is dead. So with retreating not an option, he did what any other Battle Masters would have done: he charged forward, hoping to kill his enemy before he himself was killed.

So he told the dropship pilot to accelerate to top speed and get them into the City as fast as possible. When the pilot started complaining, he pulled out his shotgun and said "You may die if you continue, or you WILL die if you do not. Choose quickly." and started squeezing the trigger, only stopping when the pilot obeyed. Many of the other ships followed, but even more missiles and bright beams of light came at them until he finally touched down. He didn't know how many made it but if it was more than 30 he would swear fealty to the Salarians for the rest of his life.

But now he was here, and to get away he would need to get creative. There was no way a single dropship would make it out of here intact. Even a group of them would be destroyed quickly as the Aliens weapons were just too powerful. To prove his point, a loud explosion was heard from the direction the dropship came from. He looked back just in time to see the 3rd Frigate supporting them blow up before the last Frigate started retreating. Well, there goes any more air support. He kept watching it as his men spread out around him and was unsurprised when two bright beams destroyed the Frigate in a single shot. Tracing back where the beam came from, he made the tactical decision to go in a completely different direction.

Looking around he could see only about a dozen Krogan and 30 Vorcha. He tried raising more of his men but knew they were all dead when no one replied. So he told those that were left to move out, choosing a random direction to go towards while making sure to stay away from the source of those light beams.

He hadn't gone far, maybe about half a kilometer when several large wheeled APCs and other wheeled vehicles came to a stop about 50 meters in front of them. The defending aliens got out and either took cover behind either the vehicles themselves or in the alcoves of the buildings. From the short glimpse he got of them, they were built like either the Batarians or the Asari, maybe with a little Quarian in the mix. They didn't wear hard suits like most space going species did, but he could tell they had armor on as well as helmets.

A voice came from the barricade. He couldn't understand them of course, but he got the gist of it when the Aliens started pointing what had to be weapons at them. Well, they obviously never fought Krogan before so he would give them the honor of dying at his hands. Activating his Biotic Barrier, he gave a War Cry and charged forward, firing his shotgun at the Alien defenders. The Krogan under his command also moved forward, firing at anything in their way while the Vorcha moved ahead to soak up the enemy fire.

The Vorcha went down easily, which was surprising to Gorvon as his Vorcha were known for their toughness. Paying closer attention, the Vorcha were mostly cut down by beams of light being fired by the smaller wheeled vehicles, beams of light which were coming out of a rotating multi barrel gun. The APCs were also firing larger beams of light, which exploded wherever they hit. Huh, they have a lot of light based weapons. If he were Salarian, he would recognize that they were energy weapons and wonder how they were made. As a Krogan he was merely surprised with how effective they were, annoyed that they were being used against him and interested in using it himself. The Vorcha made it through the kill zone and were finally among the defenders, though only 6 actually had done so. Those 6 were able to kill only 3 of the Aliens before dying but he paid it no mind. They did their part, which was to divert attention away from the Krogan to allow them to move up. Now the real fight begins.

One of the Krogans was shooting rockets at the vehicles. The ones that hit the APC were blocked by a Mass Effect shield, no surprise there, while the ones targeting the other wheeled vehicle weren't. But instead of being destroyed, the smaller vehicles were merely rocked back with large dents in the side. Huh, they must be better armored than he thought. The Krogan with the rocket launcher was reloading but the fool hadn't gotten into cover, not realizing that all the Vorcha were dead. As a result he was hit with the light cannon from one of the APCs, creating an explosion which disintegrated his upper half and even worse, destroyed the missile launcher. Since no other missiles were being fired, Gorvon knew that was the only one they had with them. The Krogans had made it within 10 meters of the Aliens but couldn't get any closer due to the amount of firepower being thrown against them. His own barrier had been depleted and he was now taking cover behind what appeared to be a concrete flower pot. It was surprisingly sturdy cover, and had kept him safe from any incoming fire. Looking over to his left across the street, he saw another one of his men get killed. He didn't see any beams of light, but he did see sparks appear on his armor as he got shot. When he fell down dead, Gorvon could see larger than normal holes in the armor where orange blood leaked out of. He should have realized it earlier, but these Aliens don't use Mass Effect weaponry for some reason. Then again it doesn't seem to have lessened their effectiveness in any way so he would still need to be careful.

Looking around him, he could see only 7 Krogan firing, while another was rolling on the ground in what appeared to be a blood rage. Gorvon wondered why he wasn't charging at the enemy, when he saw that Krogan was also missing his left leg. With the amount of blood he was losing, he would be dead in a few seconds. This didn't help his predicament, as they would all be dead in a few moments if something didn't change. With no other options, he once again wrapped himself in the strongest Biotic Barrier he could muster. Resting for a little bit, he then jumped out of cover and almost immediately had been hit by one of the APCs, taking the Barrier down to just under half strength. His barrier had taken anti-tank round before without dropping that much so it was no wonder their weapons were ripping through his men. So he wasted no more time as he singled out an Alien firing at him and executed a Biotic Charge straight at it. His charge hit with full force, denting the Alien's armor inwards and blasting it backwards to collide with the side of a building, causing red blood to come out of its mouth. He immediately turned to the Aliens next to him. He killed two more with his shotgun before his Barriers were depleted and killed another one before his shotgun overheated. By this point, the Alien bullets were penetrating his armor, though with some difficulty as he had a higher grade armor than his men. It didn't kill him but they caused enough damage to activate his Blood Rage. His vision went Red as he threw away his shotgun and charged forward, punching his enemies and breaking them with his bare hands. He killed those within reach and was about to go towards another group when he was hit with the Beam Gatling gun. Each beam destroyed whatever armor they hit, causing a small explosion and pulping the flesh beneath it. Any that hit his unarmored portions simply blew away large chunks of meat.

Gorvon landed on his back, missing most of his chest as well as both arms, his right eye and a quarter of his crest. Coming out of the Blood Rage as he bled out, he realized that he couldn't hear anymore shooting. He tried to figure out why, but realized that it didn't actually matter as he was about to die. Coughing up blood, he looked up as one of Aliens appeared over him pointing a weapon at his face. He could only lie there and choke on his own blood, reflecting that this was a stupid way to die. Well, at least this group of Aliens wouldn't forget him. And as the light left his remaining eye, he could take comfort that he would be the remembered by those that killed him, used as the standard when going against any other Krogan in the future, rather than be forgotten like some pyjack. All in all, not a bad way to go.

* * *

In another part of the city, two 12 man squads of Batarian Regulars were approaching a Police Station. They didn't know it was a police station, they were just trying to find a way off this planet as their dropship had been damaged badly during their crash landing, and figured that the important looking building would have a communication system strong enough to contact the fleet for a pickup. That didn't change anything for the forces inside the station itself who were defending 200 civilians. So as the Batarians were nearing the building, the defenders were planning an ambush.

As soon as they got within 10 meters of the entrance the two Mini Dolls stationed in front near the doors, which the Batarians mistook for statues, came to life and opened fire. They are using Micro Vulcan Beam Gatling Guns, the same as the ones on top of the Armored Troop Transport Vehicles, and had been updated with what the enemy looked like thanks to the pictures and video taken by Gundam 05.

Being fired upon what they assumed were statues, 5 Regulars died before the rest broke formation to find cover. Another 3 died during that process, bringing the total number down to 16. Having found sufficient concealment, the Regulars started returning fire on the two robots. To their dismay, the armor on both robots are extremely tough. They didn't seem to be doing any damage at all, simply causing sparks to go off wherever they hit. A few of them threw fragmentation grenades, but any that weren't shot down by the machines detonated without any effects.

It is at this point that those inside the police station decided to open fire. From the top floor and roof of the 5 story building, police officers opened fire on the Batarians. Though they only had handguns and shotguns, with the odd sub machine gun thrown in, the sheer amount of fire they brought down on the unsuspecting Regulars is enough to overwhelm them.

10 more Regulars died, while the others could do nothing more than hide behind their cover. Anytime they tried to shoot back they were almost immediately overwhelmed. After a short while the shooting stopped, and a voice barked orders to them in an unknown language. Even though the language was unknown, the survivors understood a call for surrender when they heard one.

Soon, one of the Batarians threw away their rifle and slowly rose out of cover with his hands in the air. When he didn't get shot, the others also threw away their weapons and got out of cover. After a tense 30 seconds, the doors to the police station opened. The Batarians got their first look at the Aliens they had attacked, and the Humans got their first live look at a sentient Non-Human species. The Police Officers patted down the Batarians, taking off anything that wasn't permanently attached to their armor. This included their food, water and Omni-Tools. Afterwards, they were marched inside and put in the high security prison cells while other officers stripped the dead Batarians of anything that might be a weapon. As they didn't really have any place to put dead bodies, they left them in the street where they fell.

All around the City the Alien Invaders were either killed or captured, with those taken alive being put in the Police Station prison cells watched over by either Special Response Officers or Mobile Dolls. Now, all that was left was to take out the Aliens outside the City, as well as the Fleet in orbit.

* * *

To the East of the Colony, the Slaver force that landed weren't really doing much better. In fact, they weren't doing much at all. Durnok, who is supposed to be leading them, had been killed when the 2nd Frigate was destroyed. With him gone all that were left are Company, Platoon and Squad level commanders. They attempted to contact the Fleet to get evacuated but nothing they received was good. It boiled down to "get some product and we will send someone to get you otherwise you're on your own."

They had radio contact with some scattered forces inside the city itself, but they had all gone silent within the last hour. The last transmission most units had was regarding coming into contact with the local Aliens, fighting them then surrendering to them. It was more than likely that was the fate awaiting the forces outside the city, but they still had some (bad) options left.

Most of the armored vehicles had made it to the surface of the planet, though half the tanks allotted them were destroyed with the Frigates. This was because the vehicles were in the back of the formation. The thinking was Mercs and Batarians are cheaper to replace than vehicles. But their survival would now give them a chance. To get out, they had to somehow make it past the building sized death robots blocking their way with small arms and some armored support. So even though most of the forces wanted to surrender already, a few of them started moving the tanks forward.

As a tank, it fit in with the standard Citadel design of a hovering armored vehicle. Though the armor wasn't as strong as the Turians, it wasn't as maneuverable as the Asari, nor the shields as strong as the Salarians, they made up for it by putting an oversized gun on top. Nowhere near as big as what a Krogan would put, but definitely larger than what the any other species would deem appropriate. Now they were about to find out if it was enough to bring down a building sized robot.

The first of a Dozen tanks got into position 20 meters in front of the defensive line, spread out so a concentrated attack wouldn't get them all in one go. It carefully lined up one of the robots and loaded an armor piercing round. Finally, the gunner could no longer delay and fired.

It took less than a second for the round to impact with Leo, hitting it on the left side of the chest well outside the cockpit area. The Pilot wasn't able to correct the Suit in time and it fell on its back. The tank crew cheered at its apparent destruction, and relayed their success to the other tanks. Just as the other crews were about to fire, the first tank crew saw the Leo Suit they hit get back up. Other than the damaged armor it seemed to be running just fine. They couldn't even see a hole at the point of impact. They tried to warn the others but it was too late as they had already opened fire.

9 other Suits were hit, as the last two had moved just in time. One was hit in the left shoulder, ripping off the arm of the Leo and bringing it to its knees but the others, having been forewarned, took the hit and stayed upright. Other than the missing arm, none of the Suits had been damaged too badly. In fact, the damage was equivalent to the getting hit by one of the old rifle rounds the Leo suits used to use. Though it is possible to destroy a Leo with that round it would take at least 5 shots to do so.

But now that the enemy armor had exposed itself it was time to retaliate. Every Mobile Suit with a clear line of sight opened fire on the last known location of the Tanks. Dozens of Suits opened fire with their Beam Weapons, while those with the Dober Guns set the ammunition to Artillery Mode and arced their shots.

Explosions rocked the entire front line of the invading Aliens. The sheer volume of shots fired by the Mobile Suits ensured that the Defensive Line they set up was completely obliterated. A few of the Tanks were able to whether the assault thanks to their shields, but the respite for their crew didn't last long. The Dober Guns ceased firing as four Aries Suits came in high and fired their Missiles into the surviving Tanks, which ceased to survive when hit directly with a warhead designed to take down a Mobile Suit in one hit. After they cleared the area the other defending Suits stopped firing.

The invading camp was in shambles. The Defensive line had been completely destroyed with only a few lucky individuals surviving the bombardment. Several Mobile Suits had aimed high, resulting in the Beams randomly striking throughout the landing area, destroying anything they hit and sowing even more confusion and fear amongst the invaders.

It took more than an hour for the landing team to put out all the fires and re-man the defensive line. At this time, four Aries Suits flew by overhead. The remaining Aliens braced themselves for a bombing run but instead of explosives, the Aries Suits instead dropped thousands of pamphlets. Harkening back to before Humans used one universal language the pamphlets had no words but instead contained pictures.

Each pamphlet had 3 pictures on one side, though half of them had one set of pictures while the other half had a different set. The drawings may have been crude, but they conveyed their message easily. On the first set the picture at the top started with a Batarian holding their rifle above their head approaching a human, while a Mobile Suit was watching over everything. The second picture had the Batarian handing their rifle over to the Human. The last picture showed a group of disarmed Batarians sitting in a semi-circle on the ground while armed Humans and Mobile Suits guarded them.

The second set of pictures contained different imagery. It started with a Batarian firing at the Humans with its assault rifle, while the Human ducked behind cover and the Mobile Suit looked on. The second picture showed the Mobile Suit firing on the Batarian, who was still shooting at the Human in cover. The third picture showed a blackened crater where the Batarian was, with pieces of the Batarian scattered around while the Human and Mobile Suit were unscathed.

It didn't take a linguist to understand what they were being told. Surrender and you will be taken prisoner. Attack and be killed. A few of the Officers scoffed at the idea initially, believing in the superiority of the Batarian people against such primitives. Several deaths later, the surviving officers unanimously agreed to surrender. Without backup there was no way to approach the city much less take it. Without support from the Fleet they wouldn't be able to leave the surface of the planet. So without fanfare, they started gathering up their troops while a single Officer went to one of the dropships. He keyed in a channel and connected to the Fleet. Once connected, he informed them of the surrender of the landing forces. Before any reply was received he disconnected the call and powered everything down.

He walked out of the ship and past the wreckage of the Tanks. Once there he removed his rifle from the magnetic strips on his back, raised it above his head and started the long walk towards the City he tried to conquer. All around him the roughly 2,000 survivors did the same, while others were carrying the wounded on stretchers.

And with this, the Invasion of Shanxi was effectively over.

############################################################################

Captain Cortez received an update from Colonel Williams. The Marines had neutralized the invading ground forces and the Aliens are now surrendering. While the Invasion had been stopped due to the surrendering of the ground forces, the Battle of Shanxi had not yet ended.

The earlier space battle was a win for their side, but it was not won without casualties. 3 Frigates and a Cruiser had been outright destroyed with all hands. 8 Taurus Suits under his command had been lost along with their Pilots with the Titan Station losing another 10. The Mobile Dolls had only been reduced by 5 Suits though another 10 were damaged. All the other ships in his Taskforce had taken damage with his Destroyer taking the brunt of it. One Beam Turret, one Beam Gatling Gun and several Missile pods had been destroyed, while the Buster Cannon had been reduced to 70% of full power. The destruction of the Beam Turret also caused an energy feedback loop onto the bridge, causing the console manned by 1st Lieutenant Hackett to explode in his face. He had thought such things couldn't happen anymore due to the redesign of the control consoles though it seems that one of the older ones got slipped in.

But with the capture of the Aliens on the ground it was time to get rid of the Aliens in space. That was easier said than done due to his reduced capabilities. With the damage taken he was just above 60% of full strength. Of course, they could hope that the Aliens would go away on their own, but there was no guarantee that they didn't have backup coming. It would be best to get rid of them as fast as possible.

While the ground forces were doing battle he had been coming up with a plan of attack. Half the remaining ships would go the short way across the north pole of the planet, while the other half took the long way around. They would attack the enemy ships at the same time. All of the Navy Taurus Suits would be going as well as 50 of the Titan Taurus Suits to ensure that enough firepower was brought to bear to drive the Aliens out of the system.

He was about to execute his plan when he received an incoming call from Red Hawk. Recognizing the code name for Heavy Arms, he accepted the call and was pleasantly surprised to hear that Heavy Arms would join them in space for the final push. With 2 Gundams he would definitely accomplish his goal. By the time Heavy Arms had reached the Taskforce, everyone was in place and the modified plan was ready to be executed. Altron would lead the Navy Taurus Suits the short distance, while Heavy Arms would lead the Titan Suits the long way. The Navy Ships would go with Heavy Arms as they want to push the Alien Ships in one direction.

With everyone in place, they left to end the Battle of Shanxi.

###############################################################################

Everything was going wrong. Out of 200 combat ships he started out with only 60 ships were left. His ground forces had surrendered. He was running out of both options and time. With no one fighting on the ground all the attention would be focused on him. There was no way to overcome the forces against him. There was no chance of making a profit. The only thing he could do at the moment was retreat. Most of the remaining ships were damaged, with his remaining Dreadnought being so mangled that the main gun could no longer be fired.

His sensor officer cried out in alarm, informing him that the Aliens were coming. So with a snarl, Jon'Anum ordered the entire fleet back to the Relay, swearing to himself that he would be back. He would convince the Hegemon to give him an even larger fleet. And if the Hegemon refused, he would go to the Terminus Systems and raise a fleet of his own. He would conquer this miserable race no matter what the cost.

Beaten, bloody, demoralized and scared, the remaining Slavers jumped back to the Relay. He contacted the stolen Volus ship, which replied that everything was all clear. So without looking back towards the place of their defeat, the entire fleet jumped through the Relay back into Council Space.

Right into the waiting arms of a Turian Fleet.

* * *

#

* * *

 **AN:**

And That's Chapter 3, the Battle of Shanxi. I know this is another cliff hanger, but next chapter will show what the Citadel Council was doing during the Battle of Shanxi and I want each chapter to have a theme/meaning. And yeah, the battle only took about 10 hours, but I couldn't really draw it out without coming up with a contrived reason.

Don't worry, I'll explain properly why the Turians were able to get a fleet ready and in place in that time frame.

Thank you fantasy name generator, helped me out both in the last chapter and this chapter.

Oh, and I changed the Rating to T to keep in tune with the Anime. Also, I realized I didn't have anything really worth the M rating I put initially.

Wow.

I did not expect the response that I got. Thank you all for liking/reviewing/following. This chapter would have gotten published sooner, but work kicked my ass for about two weeks straight.

And don't worry, I will finish this story.

This story will now be cut down to about 5 chapters, maybe 6 but most likely 5. On the flip side, it seems that the chapter length will be whatever it becomes. Heh, I didn't mean for it to get past 11,000 words but here we are at 15,000, which is the same length of the first two chapters combined, so there's that. Still, I will make each chapter at least 8,000 words long to make it a worthwhile read. Expect about a chapter a month.

Also [shameless plug] I wrote a one-shot Back to the Future story for Back to the Future day. You can get the link from my profile page. If you don't feel like going to my profile page, search for ' You're Darth Calvin Klein? ' and that should be it. [/shameless plug]

Until next time, Gunkatas


	4. Chapter 4 - The Citadel Responds

After Colony 203. The Peace that mankind has worked so hard for has once again been shattered. But it is not their fellow man that humans fight now but extraterrestrial beings. Aliens from beyond known space attacked their most vulnerable Extra Solar Colony for reasons that yet have to be determined. Fear quickly spread throughout all of humanity, with the Military getting ready for full scale war. But unknown to the Humans, another group of Aliens were attempting to also figure out what happened. And with their careful maneuvering, it may be possible to avoid further conflict.

Gundam Wing: Shattered Dreams. Chapter 4 – The Citadel Responds

Just as Wufei was getting in place next to the Titan Station, the Salarian Councilor Eslein was getting ready to rest in her residence. She had just returned from a Council session where she lost several hours of her short life listening to the Hanar ambassador talk about … something. Honestly, she tuned out the ambassador after about 10 minutes. She wasn't sure but she thinks she fell asleep at one point. No matter, the ambassador just wanted to talk about spreading the message of the 'enkindlers' across space (again) and how the Council should allow them to open up new Mass Relays (again) as they are the legacy of the enkindlers and …. _sigh_ she just wanted to retire. Nearing 44, she only has a few more years left before death takes her. It's a good thing she was already training her replacement, another Dalatrass by the name of Urrip. Once a Salarian becomes a Councilor they give up their Family name as they represent all of the Salarians, not just the ones they are related to. In theory, it's a good idea. In practice …. Well, family is family, no matter how you try to stay impartial.

So there she sat, in her personal chambers on the Citadel listening to music when her communicator beeped a certain sequence, informing her that it is important. Sighing once more, she answered the call.

"Councilor Eslein I have urgent news for you."

Eslein became alert immediately. The Director only contacts her if the situation is dire. That he says it is urgent means there's no time to waste. She keyed in the commands to her Omni-Tool to secure her personal quarters. Nobody in or out, communications blackout, nobody contacts her until it is lifted. Only after this was done did she turn to the Director.

"What happened?"

The Director had a grim look on his face, "A fleet of Slavers have gone through Relay 314 to attack the species that is on the other side. They have a little over 300 ships with them, with at least 200 of them being combat ships."

Though old, her mind is as sharp as ever and is always kept up to date with the latest intelligence. So she deduced in under 5 seconds that "The one who activated the Relay 3 months ago is in charge of that fleet. That fleet was gathered at Torfan for a massive slave raid at an unknown location. Now we know where they are headed, but not the destination."

"Correct Councilor. I have an STG stealth vessel currently observing the Relay. The vast majority of the ships are of Batarian make including two active duty Batarian Dreadnoughts."

She didn't miss the gravity of that statement. "Are you sure? We can't accuse them of this without solid evidence."

"I'm sure Councilor. I have personally gone over all the data the stealth ship provided, including video and intercepted communications between the ships."

She sighed. To think this would happen now. Well, at least she wouldn't need to deal with this mess in a few months. "Understood. Do you know the identity of the leader?"

The Director grimaced at that. "No Councilor. The identity has not been discovered, due to the fact that he or she is one of the people the Batarian Government requested that we do not track as they are 'A Vital part of the Function of Government.' We would need Council approval before we could start intercepting his or her communications."

There was no doubt in her mind that the Hegemony is compliant in this action now. "I understand. Send me the data with your thoughts, deductions and recommended course of action. I will convene an emergency Council Session afterwards."

"Yes ma'am."

After the Director disconnected, Eslein lifted the lockdown and went to her personal terminal. She only had to wait about 5 minutes for a sizable data file to appear. She immediately contacted Dalatrass Urrip and instructed her to come immediately.

About a tenth of the way through the data her guards announced that Urrip had arrived. She informed her guards, STG agents of course, to let Urrip in and to hold all communications and visits unless they are emergencies.

Urrip entered "Councilor, what is the issue?"

"A large Slaver fleet has gone through Relay 314 with the support of the Batarian Hegemony. An STG vessel has confirmed this action and has provided data which we will go over now before I call an emergency session of the Citadel Council."

Urrip for her part didn't ask any more questions, simply taking a seat across from Eslein and opening a copy of the data. They were both silent, going through the data diligently to make sure everything fit. Though Urrip started later, she finished before Eslein did because she could read faster than her older counterpart, which gave her time to think about what she read.

The Batarians were no doubt behind this. They always used the 'Government Business' clause to hide their Slaver leaders, but now they had undeniable proof that they had broken one of the Council's most strict laws. There would be a heavy price to pay for this, no doubt about it.

The sound of Eslein removing a data chip from her workstation brought her out of her thoughts. Eslein looked at Urrip and asked "What do you think?"

"I think the Batarians are guilty. They definitely know about and approved this operation. Even if they somehow wiggle themselves out of that spot, there's no denying that they used state assets to go through the Relay. That itself is a permanent banishment offense."

"I concur. Was there anything in that data that you have questions about? Anything that you believe may be incorrect or manipulated to show the wrong picture?"

Urrip thought about it but quickly shook her head. "No. Everything fit together. The only thing that is missing is the identity of the leader, and that should be quickly resolved once the Council revokes his or her anonymity. Do you believe the leader went through with the Fleet?" She definitely would not have if for no other reason than to have deniability.

"That would not be the smart thing to do. But you and I both know that the type of being who would do something like this is not as smart as they would like to think they are. They tend to overestimate their own skills while underestimating their opponents. Make no mistake, that Batarian is part of the fleet. For now, we need to convene an emergency Council Session."

Eslein typed a few commands into her workstation, sending a short message to the other Councilors. It lacked detail, just stating that it was an emergency and that it could not wait. After that was done, both Salarians stood up to leave with Urrip asking "Would you like me to accompany you during your meeting?"

"Yes" replied Eslein, "whatever we decide you will have to deal with the fallout. It is best to have you know what is going on from the beginning rather than inform you later on."

With that, both current and future Salarian Councilor left to the Council Private Chambers.

* * *

Turian Councilor Vorex is on his way to the Private Council Meeting chambers. This is the location where the Councilors can meet and discuss issues when they do not need to posture for the cameras. He knew he would be last to arrive, as he had been visiting with the Volus Ambassador at the Volus Embassy about enacting some new finance laws in the coming year when he received the message from Eslein. Recognizing the urgent nature of the meeting notice, he immediately excused himself from the Ambassadors office stating that an emergency required his attention elsewhere and left. Even though she had fallen asleep while listening to the Hanar Ambassador (which he honestly couldn't blame her for doing so as only experience on boring graveyard shift duty kept him from succumbing himself) she was far from senile and would only send out a summons like this if the situation warranted it. And knowing about the planned Slave Raid, he was afraid that they were too late to stop some tragedy from happening.

So as he got out of the elevator (they're on linear rails for spirits sake, why does it seem to be faster to take the stairs?) he quickly made his way to the private chambers, his guards clearing a path. It was rare to see a Councilor move so urgently, and he knew his entrance would cause gossip and speculation to spread throughout all of Citadel Space in a matter of hours but he didn't care at the moment. As he neared the chamber doors he spotted the guards of the other Councilors already there. They parted for him to allow access to the keypad, his own guards dispersing to their pre-planned positions. Keying in his passcode, the doors opened and he entered a short hallway with two of his personal guards up to the second door, where another set of guards stationed inside behind protective glass closed the first door before confirming his identity through various methods that flew above his fringe. After his identity was confirmed, he entered the second set of doors to the private meeting chamber of the Council.

As expected, Tevos and Eslein were already seated around the table, their two guards positioned behind them and Urrip seated behind and to the right of Eslein. "I apologize for my tardiness, has the meeting started yet?" He asked while sitting down at his seat.

Eslein spoke "Not yet, this is too important to only have part of the Council assembled." Keying in a few commands, holograms in the middle of the table sprung up, showing a fleet of ships going through a Relay. "You are looking at the Slaver Fleet that was gathered yesterday at Torfan going through the uncharted Relay 314. The STG believe that the leader of this fleet is the one responsible for activating the Relay."

Silence. Vorex couldn't believe what he had heard. How could this happen? The Turian patrol stationed at that Relay had only recently moved on. How could the Slavers know that? Was it luck? Was there a leak in the Hierarchy? What happened to the probes left behind to monitor the Relay? All these questions and more ran through his head, but the first thing he asked was "How do you know this?"

"The STG sent a stealth vessel into the system before your Patrol moved on. Alongside your probes, they have been constantly monitoring the new Relay." She tapped a few commands into her console. When she was done, the console in front of him and Tevos pinged, indicating that they had received an encrypted file. "I have just sent the two of you the data that was taken by the STG ship, deductions and a preliminary investigation by the Director of the STG as well as my own thoughts and a brief summary of everything." He and Tevos started reading while Eslein continued to speak. "Basically, a high ranking member of the Batarian government activated Relay 314 three months ago and sent a probe or ship to the other side. They found something of interest and were going to go through when the Turian Patrol discovered the activated Relay. A probe was left behind by the Batarian to monitor the Turian Patrol and informed the one that activated the Relay about their departure. The individual then gathered the Slave Raid group and went through Relay 314 after hacking the Turian probes left behind."

Tevos and Vorex continued reading, the only sound in the room coming from the hum of the projector and the beep of a holographic key being pressed. Vorex was actually reading the data, while Tevos merely skimmed it so he was unsurprised when she was finished before him.

"Why was the Council not informed of the STG plan?" she asked.

"Because the STG was unaware of who had actually activated the Relay. It could have been any being of any species. One of the initial hypothesis was that an agent of the Council opened the Relay under direct orders, as only the Council themselves would be able to shield such an individual should they be caught, as well as provide the discreet funding and personnel needed to go through the Relay. As you can see, that was incorrect."

Tevos looked annoyed but Vorex understood the value of keeping something like this secret. They were some of the most likely suspects, for reasons that Eslein pointed out. Informing them would have been foolish.

Finally, Vorex finished reading the report. Turning his attention to the other two he said "The Turian 2nd fleet is closest to Relay 314, they can get there within six hours of being told to move. The question is, do we go through the Relay or wait for the Slavers to come back?" This is an important decision. On one hand, they already know who did it and can guarantee that they would get caught coming back through the Relay. On the other hand, going through the Relay would cause the Slavers to abandon their plan and have the Citadel Council on the good graces of whatever species is on the other side. There was a downside to that plan unfortunately.

Tevos asked first "If the 2nd Fleet goes through the Relay, can you guarantee that you will catch the entire slaver fleet?"

He winced at that and answered truthfully "No. With the amount of ships they have, between a quarter to two-thirds of the slaver fleet would escape. The only way we can guarantee that all of them will be caught is when they transit back to this side of Relay 314. And we can't just send only a portion of the Turian fleet, as anything less than full strength would get them overwhelmed. We would have to station one fleet at Relay 314 and send another fleet through in order to get all the Slavers. Or, we can just have one fleet waiting for them."

The two thought about it, with Eslein asking the obvious question "How long would it take to get a second Turian fleet to the Relay?"

Thinking for a moment, he pulled up the Galaxy map on the main holo-projector, replacing the image of the Slaver fleet. Connecting it to his Omni-Tool, he updated the map with the current deployment of Turian Space Naval Assets. With the Slave Raid happening in an unknown location, the Hierarchy had dedicated the 2nd, 3rd and 5th fleet as a Quick Response Force. He knew the location of the 2nd fleet because of its unique role. As he finished inputting their locations, he looked up and stared at the map before shaking his head and answering "It would take at least 30 hours for the next closest QRF fleet to respond. And that's if they moved non-stop. It would take longer due to them needing to discharge their Eezo cores along the way."

Tevos looked at the map before pulling up her own Omni-tool and inputting the location of the Asari Space Naval Assets. Though not as numerous as the Turian Fleets, they were some of the best available and not to be underestimated. "The Republics have a Fleet not too far from the Relay. They would take roughly 15 hours to get there, discharges included. What about the Salarian Union, do you have any combat ships you can spare in time?"

The Union had even fewer dedicated combat ships than the Republics did, but they made up for it by being on the cutting edge of whatever they could make. "No. Our ships are only patrolling our Space, making them too far way to be useful in this instance. It would take between 50-70 hours to move enough ships to make a difference, and doing so would leave a large hole in our defenses."

Vorex seethed at that. The Salarians never pulled their weight in instances like this. They only had enough ships to cover their own space and expected the Turians to pick up the slack no matter what. He understands that is part of the standard Citadel Policy, where the Turians are expected to bear the brunt of any assault being the reason why they were allowed unlimited Dreadnought production compared to everyone else, but at least the Asari provided backup whenever they can. Of course, he knows that the Salarians specialize in information warfare rather than direct assault, but that didn't help the slight resentment he felt when the Salarians just expect the Turians to die without any physical support from them. But this was not the time to let personal grudges flare as bigger things were happening.

Calming himself, he told the other two the plan "The Turian 2nd Fleet will leave immediately to Relay 314, holding a blocking formation on the Relay. Once the Asari fleet arrives, the 2nd Fleet will go through the Relay while the Asari fleet stays behind to catch any that try to escape. Does everyone agree with the plan?"

Tevos and Eslein nodded, with Eslein speaking once more "The STG ship will hijack the Volus freighter when the 2nd Fleet is close to Relay 314. I am sending you the contact information for the STG Ship Captain. Have your fleet commander contact him on when he expects to arrive so that the takeover can be coordinated correctly. I would like to hijack the ship now, but the STG does not have enough agents in place to take down and guard whoever is on that Vessel on their own."

It was times like these that reminded Vorex why he never said anything about the Salarians not providing physical assets to a fight. Their intelligence services more than make up for their lack of direct participation in a battle.

Eslein continued "But before that, I need a Council Vote to remove protections for the individual leading this fleet. The STG is unable to intercept any message to or from this individual until the Council lifts this restriction." Vorex was slightly embarrassed that he didn't think about doing such a thing. So without further ado, while referencing the data file he received, he pushed a button to record his voice while speaking clearly and strongly "I, Turian Councilor Vorex, with the Authority of the Turian Hierarchy and Citadel Council hereby remove electronic communications protection for the individual identified as 4538125 effective immediately, for investigation into the illegal activation and transit of Relay 314."

Tevos spoke next, also making sure to record her words for the official record. "I, Asari Councilor Tevos, with the Authority of the Asari Republics and the Citadel Council hereby remove electronic communications protection for the individual identified as 4538125 effective immediately, for investigation into the illegal activation and transit of Relay 314."

It was now Eslein's turn. "I, Salarian Councilor Eslein, with the Authority of the Salarian Union and the Citadel Council hereby remove electronic communications protection for the individual identified as 4538125 effective immediately, for investigation into the illegal activation and transit of Relay 314." After she was done she made a copy of the recordings for herself "I will send this authorization to the Director while you two get your forces ready."

He nodded at her and opened up comms with the Turian Primarch while Tevos did the same with the Republic Chancellor to start moving Naval Assets to Relay 314.

#############################

By the time Admiral Tolan was becoming a smear of atoms across space, the Turian 2nd fleet were on their way to Relay 314. Instead of the standard two Dreadnoughts per fleet as per Turian doctrine, the 2nd fleet had three. Unlike the other eleven fleets, the 2nd fleet is a dedicated QRF for all of Citadel Space, but mainly along the Citadel/Terminus/Batarian border. As such, they had an extra Dreadnought to keep the Primary Relay they are stationed at safe while the other two Dreadnoughts responded to whatever crisis was going on. Because of their constant skirmishes and deployments only the best are assigned to this task force, making them be considered the top fleet in the Turian Hierarchy.

But now, every ship and soldier was headed to Relay 314. In the entire history of the 2nd fleet, it was extremely rare for all 3 Dreadnoughts to go at once. Even during times of war, one Dreadnought was usually left behind to guard the Primary Relay. But when the Primarch contacted the leader of the fleet, Admiral Sentaris, and told him of what the Batarians had done Sentaris knew that it would take every ship he had to stop them. At the end of the call, he immediately ordered all ships to make for the newly opened Relay.

After conferring with his senior commanders, he opened up a fleet wide comm to inform the rest of the Turians of the situation. "This is Admiral Sentaris to the Turians of the 2nd Fleet. As you know, a large Slave Raid was being put together. Intelligence had conflicting information on the intended target, forcing all of Citadel Space into high alert when they moved into action yesterday. A few hours ago, I was contacted by the Primarch himself. The STG discovered that the Slavers activated Relay 314 three months ago and have just sent a large fleet of ships through to the other side. Their goals are unknown, but it is speculated that they want to bring a new species back to the Hegemony and sell them as slaves. Our mission is to go through the unexplored Relay and stop the Slaver fleet before they release a race far worse than the Rachni upon all of civilized space. I know this is a daunting task, but we are the Sailors and Marines of the Turian Hierarchy, the best of the best, and we will not fail our duty. Confer with your superior officers and await further instructions. May the Spirits of our Ancestors Guide us."

Upon hearing the reason for their deployment every Turian of the 2nd fleet started getting ready for the worst. Getting their orders from their CO's, the Turians learned of the plan to go through Relay 314 after the Asari Fleet arrived to secure this side of the Relay, making sure that none of the lawbreakers got away with their transgression. Some advocated for going through the Relay without the Asari fleet serving as backup but they were quickly put in place.

Five and a half hours have now passed since the 2nd fleet first moved out. Admiral Sentaris's ship, the Dreadnought _Might of Justice_ , just transitioned through the last Relay needed to get Relay 314. They just had to transition to the adjacent System to reach their objective. It is now time to contact the STG ship.

Standing in the CIC, he opened a Vid channel to the stealth vessel monitoring the Relay. The channel opened to give him a view of a Salarian. If he was asked to describe what the individual looked like, it would just be that: Salarian. There was absolutely nothing distinct about the being he was looking at whatsoever. The Agent spoke before he could.

"Identify yourself."

"Admiral Sentaris of the Turian Hierarchy 2nd fleet, coming as per ordered by the Primarch to assist you in your mission."

There was silence for a few moments before the Agent spoke again "Identity confirmed, transferring you to team lead." The Vid cut off for a moment before changing to another Salarian with a Captain Insignia. The Captain spoke immediately "Admiral Sentaris, it is good to see you. I'm glad you came so quickly to our request. You may call me Eyeball-1 for the duration of this mission. I am assuming you are nearby?"

Sentaris didn't waste any time "We are in the system adjacent to yours. My ships should finish coming through the last Relay within the next 10 minutes. We discharged our drive cores before transitioning here, so we will arrive at Relay 314 within the next half hour. What is the status of the Relay and the Volus ship?"

"No activity on the Relay and the Volus ship has not yet moved. Sending you the schematics of the Volus ship and how many we have determined are inside." A ping on his console alerted him of the package he received, which he displayed on a secondary screen. "As you can see, it is a standard Volus Resource Freighter, complete with an ammonium atmosphere to help fool basic scans. There are an estimated eight to eleven hostiles aboard the ship, most likely all Batarian Military. It is unknown at this time who the leader of this team is, as there have been no communications other than the 'all clear' signal they have been continuously broadcasting. Admiral, how would you like to proceed with this ship?"

He had already gone over the situation with his Officers so he already had a plan. "I have several companies of 26th Armiger aboard my fleet. I will send one squad aboard a shuttle to capture the freighter, along with a Frigate to disable or destroy the ship if necessary. I am requesting one of your team members come along to help with any technology matters my own men are unable to handle." He actually had several technicians that could do a job just as well as the Salarians could, but it was best to keep them involved to keep accusations of impropriety at bay.

Captain Varix thought about it for a few moments, weighing the pros and cons before stating "Agreed. I will have one of my Agents, codenamed Eyeball-4, attach himself to the outside of the Volus ship. This will give him direct access to the ships computer, allowing him to override everything from the door lock to propulsion. Please inform your Frigate commander to not shoot at the Volus ship until he gets an all clear from my Agent."

Sentaris could agree to that. One of his aids notified him that the last ship has arrived. Indicating that he received the notification, he turned back to Eyeball-1. "My last ship has come through. We will be in your system in approximately 20 minutes."

Eyeball-1 nodded "We will be ready Admiral. Please inform your men to take prisoners if possible. Though we may be able to determine what the all clear signal is for when the Slaver Fleet want to return, there is no guarantee that it is on a computer. And without knowing which one is the leader, it is better to take as many prisoners as you can."

"I can order them to take prisoners, but if they resist my men will use lethal force."

"Of course Admiral. We will be awaiting your signal, Eyeball-1 out."

Closing the connection, Admiral Sentaris ordered his fleet to move out, contacting the Armiger commander about the updated plans regarding the Volus ship.

* * *

The Salarian STG Agent codenamed Eyeball-4 is currently attached to the Volus Freighter, physically plugged into an access port while waiting for the Turians to arrive so he could finally get back into the safety and comfort of the Stealth Ship. As he is the newest member of the STG team, he got volunteered to do this stupid but necessary assignment. There were only five Agents aboard the stealth ship: the Captain, the Pilot, the Navigator/Comms Officer, and two Agents to rotate out with the Captain for constant surveillance. And it was just his luck that the other Agent had done two more missions than he had. So with nothing else to do, he waited for the Turians while internally grumbling about his assignment.

Luckily for him, the Turians arrived not three minutes later. He immediately hijacked every function in the freighter, powering down the consoles and locking all the doors. Connecting to the internal cameras, he could see there were 4 Batarians panicking on the Ships Bridge, while 3 were trapped in the crew quarters with another 3 in the mess, the only area with a normal Citadel atmosphere. He made sure to disable the communications equipment, as the STG ship would broadcast the all-clear signal until the Turians had taken over the Freighter.

His comms alerted him of an incoming signal. "Eyeball-4, this is Sergeant Fersarin. We are on approach and will be boarding the Volus ship in 55 seconds."

"Sergeant Fersarin, I have complete control of the Volus ship. Proceed to port side docking hatch, it is the closest to the Bridge. I will be monitoring your progress and unlocking doors as requested. There are 4 on the Bridge, 3 in crew quarters and 3 in the mess. All are armed with a mixture of Assault Rifles and Shotguns, with a few having pistols as backups. No others detected, engine room is empty at the moment."

"Affirmative, moving into position now."

Eyeball-4 watched the transport shuttle get into position, while a Turian Frigate hovered nearby to provide support if necessary. After secure docking was established he unlocked the outer hatch, allowing the atmosphere to equalize before opening the inner hatch. 14 Turians, in full Armor with enclosed helmets, rushed forward onto the ship. Half went to secure the bridge while the other half went to secure the rest of the ship. There was a brief firefight on the bridge, resulting in the deaths of two Batarians and an injured Turian. The rest surrendered after mild resistance, resulting in another two Batarians dead with another wounded.

With the ship secured, Eyeball-4 contacted the STG Captain, "Eyeball-4 to Eyeball-1, the Turians have secured the ship. 4 Batarians dead with one wounded, one Turian injured. Awaiting orders."

After a moment of silence he got his response, "Eyeball-1 to Eyeball-4, proceed inside the Volus ship and access the mainframe directly. Mine any data you can, especially in regards to the plans of the Slaver Fleet and the response the Volus ship is to give should any ship return."

Sighing to himself he responded "Eyeball-4, orders confirmed."

* * *

Luckily for them, everything they needed was on the computers. The All-clear, compromised, other ships in system, all the signals were prepared with the single push of a button. They still interrogated the prisoners of course, just to get confirmation. A few threats of violence and promises for leniency during their sentencing (they didn't go through the relay, so all they could be charged with at most was conspiracy with aiding and abetting) the prisoners confirmed the findings of the STG team. As it was unknown when the Slaver Fleet would return, any of the crew members aboard would need to be able to give the correct signal. There was no other code word or failsafe in place to stop them from falling into a trap.

Sentaris is now waiting for the Asari Fleet to arrive, having received a communique from them a short while ago. They were delayed and will arrive in 9 hours as there was an accident with a cargo ship at one of the Relays they needed to go through, shutting down access to the Relay for two hours while the debris was cleared. One of the dead Batarians had a copy of the data regarding the system on the other side of the Relay for some reason, so Sentaris was using the time he had to go over the plans with his Senior Ship Officers and Ship Captains.

They were about a third of the way through planning when Eyeball-1 contacted him on the emergency line. "Admiral. We just got a signal from the Slaver Fleet, they are returning right now. What do you want us to do?"

Sentaris was surprised, but quickly pushed it aside to focus on the situation. "How many are returning?"

"All of them."

That peaks his interest. They couldn't possibly have taken over and subjugated a colony of that size that quickly unless they were a lot more efficient then he believed they could be. Still, that was neither here nor there. "Go ahead and send the All-Clear signal. We will arrest them when they come through or destroy them if they resist."

Eyeball-1 nodded and disconnected. Since he was already connected with the Senior Ship Captains he instructed them to get in the standard Relay Defense formation and to only fire on his orders.

Once his Fleet got into position it didn't take long for the Slaver Fleet to come through the Relay. Broadcasting on call channels, he gave an ultimatum to the lawbreakers "This is Admiral Sentaris of the Turian 2nd Fleet. You have been caught knowingly breaking Council Law by illegally activating and travelling through Relay 314. Power down your ships and prepare to be boarded."

When he got no response he contacted Eyeball-1 to locate the leader. He was surprised when a Cruiser was highlighted, as he expected the leader of such an expedition would have commandeered the Dreadnought but no matter. "Gunnery, disable that Cruiser."

The Gunnery Officer acknowledge the order and fired one round from the main gun, which broke the Cruisers shield and impacted near the engines, disabling them. Sentaris gave them one more chance to surrender. "That is the only warning shot you will receive. Power down your ships NOW."

After a few moments, just as he was about to order his Fleet to open fire, the Dreadnought (weren't there two of them?) lowered its shields and cut off everything but gravity and life support. And one by one, every ship followed the Dreadnoughts lead.

Pleased with the outcome, he gave orders to send boarding parties and prize crews to man the ships. He sent a special message to the Armiger commander. "Colonel, I need your best platoon to board that disabled Cruiser and capture the leader alive. You are free to neutralize anyone who gets in your way but the leader MUST be taken prisoner. I am sending you the identity of the leader as provided by the STG." The Colonel confirmed his orders, having a Frigate transport his men to the Cruiser. With that complete, he ordered an analysis done on the Slaver fleet while he contacted the Citadel Council.

* * *

The Council had left their private chambers to retire for the day. However, they were still available and answered the Admirals call from their personal residences. Once all four were connected to each other, the Admiral started explaining the situation. "Councilors. Ten minutes ago the entire Slaver Fleet came back to Council Space through Relay 314." Each Councilor was shocked at the quick return. "They have surrendered and I am in the process of arresting those involved."

Vorex was the first to recover, "Did they give any resistance?"

"They initially did not respond to my ultimatum but I disabled their leader's ship in one shot, showing I was not to be trifled with. The others understood their predicament and powered down soon afterwards."

Vorex nodded at while Tevos spoke next. "You seem to have everything under control. Do you still require the Asari Fleet to support you?" That question is answered by Vorex.

"I believe the Asari Fleet should still go." At the questioning looks he received he explained himself "If nothing else it will be a symbolic move: The three ruling species of Citadel Space came together to punish criminals who have broken one of the strictest laws in place. Also, they could focus on securing the Relay while the 2nd Fleet focuses on the Slavers."

The other two voiced their approval, after which it was Eslein's turn to ask questions. "Do you know why they returned so early? It hasn't even been a day since they went through the Relay."

"No Councilor I do not. Scans show minimal life sign in the transport ships, meaning they are not full of captives. Also, there are fewer than 200 ships present as well as only one Dreadnought instead of two."

"Implications disturbing. Update us when you have more information Admiral. Would you like more STG agents to help sort through the data?"

"That would be of great help Councilor. I will contact you again in one day." Sentaris saluted before disconnecting, leaving just the Councilors.

"What are the implications of them returning so quickly and with drastically less ships than when they left?" asked Tevos.

"There could be a number of reasons Tevos." Answered Vorex, "They could have not found what they were expecting, they could have split in two, they could have been tipped off by someone on this end of the Relay, the reasons are numerous. Until Sentaris gets back to us with more information all we can do is speculate."

Tevos nodded at that and asked "Do we tell the public anything about this? The press is going to notice that two entire Fleets are not where they are supposed to be."

This time Eslein answered just as she finished informing the Director of the new orders "We can release a press statement tomorrow that the two Fleets have responded to a crisis but that everything is under control. We'll even tell them part of the truth, which is that they responded to a Slaver Fleet preparing to attack and were able to stop them. The rest will be explained at a later date, once we have all the data regarding what has transpired."

The other two could agree to that: It explains what was going on without explaining what was going on. Still, there was nothing more to do at this point, so all three decided to retire and reconvene tomorrow when the Admiral contacts them.

* * *

Five days have passed since the Slaver Fleet returned, and what the Council discovered was disturbing. Mechs the size of Corvettes with the maneuverability of a fighter and the firepower of a Frigate, deployed in mass numbers using energy weapons and a 4 Kilometer long space station with a weapon that outputs more energy than an entire fleet. That's not including what little data the surviving dropships had regarding the attempted ground landing.

The first day mainly focused on gathering information and making sure nothing was deleted or altered. Preliminary analysis was done by both Asari and Turian technicians, with the STG agents mainly focusing on decryption. A Spectre was also dispatched to bring Jon'Anum to the Citadel while prison barges were sent to take prisoners off the ships.

The second day was when things started to get troubling. The Analysts reported that the missing ships were destroyed by the unknown Aliens the Slavers encountered. More were assigned to go through the data available.

On the third day most of the STG were tasked to analyze what was found, with the Hierarchy and Republic scientist and technicians assisting. At this point in time, the Batarian Ambassador to the Citadel requested an audience with the Council which was promptly denied with a message that boiled down to "don't call us, we'll call you." Slaver ships are moved out of the way of the Relay to an adjacent system for evidence.

The fourth day led to heated discussions amongst those involved, with one faction stating that the recordings had to be false against the other faction stating that everything was true. Numerous interrogations of the prisoners later, those that wanted to deny their findings had to accept that the readings were not falsified or changed. The Spectre also arrived back at the Citadel to drop off Jon'Anum.

Now it was the fifth day and the Council was planning their next steps. The Press had gotten wind that something has the Government spooked, and it involved the movement of a Turian and Asari Fleet to the edge of Council Space. That was simply one of many issues that they needed to discuss.

Tevos started the meeting. "We need to release another statement about the Slaver Fleet. The public already knows we aren't telling them everything, but with the leaks to the press the civilians are starting to panic. We could have rioting soon if we don't squash the false rumors."

"Agreed Tevos" said Vorex, "But we can't tell them that the Batarian Government is complicit. Just say that the Slavers were caught going through Relay 314, but that the Turian and Asari military are ready for any incursion into Council Space. Which brings me to the next point; Eslein, what have the STG discovered from probes sent into the new system?"

Eslein shook her head while Urrip spoke "Nothing at all I'm afraid. The STG only started sending probes yesterday, and any probe that is sent gets destroyed within 10 seconds after transit. The only thing they record is a high energy output before the signals cease. We have already lost six probes, and we are hesitant to send anymore in case the Aliens believe we are attempting to scout them for another invasion."

Vorex sighed at that, "Unfortunately, that may not be outside the realm of possibility. Several high ranking officials in the Hierarchy are calling for the invasion and subjugation of this new species, as they have seen the recordings and believe them to be the a threat to the Citadel. They are currently just a small very vocal minority but one of their members is very close to the Primarch. More reasonable members are keeping them out of the limelight but the longer this isn't resolved the more supporters they will get."

Tevos closed her eyes for a moment, hoping to slow down the building headache. The Batarians are more trouble than they are worth, they would have a reckoning and soon. But for now, "We need to send an ambassador to the new species." The other three turned to look at her, and she could feel their stares even with her eyes closed. "Right now, all they know is that unknown Aliens came and attacked one of their worlds for no reason whatsoever. They are most likely building up their forces and could come through the Relay at any moment. If that happens, war will most likely be inevitable."

Tevos opened her eyes as understanding came to the other two Councilors. As far as the Aliens knew, anything and everything on the other side of the Relay was going to try and kill or enslave them. "Who do you have in mind?" asked Vorex.

"No one I can recommend right away. I will need to contact the Chancellor and her advisors before deciding who to send." She was about to say more but was interrupted by a communication from Admiral T'vaz, the leader of the Asari Fleet at Relay 314.

"Councilors, I apologize for the interruption but a probe has just appeared from the Relay. The STG have confirmed it is not one of theirs, meaning it was sent by the unknown Aliens. What are you orders?"

It looked like Tevos's fear was about to come true. "Do you have a first contact package?" she asked.

"No Ma'am, we do not. We normally do not go to the edge of Council Space, it was determined that both my Fleet and the Turian 2nd Fleet would not have a need for a first contact package." Well, that would get rectified soon.

Vorex said "We will be sending an ambassador through the relay in the next few days. In the meantime, have a single Frigate move in front of the probe and start signaling it using both radio waves and lights."

"Lights sir?"

"You can use running lights, bridge lights, Spirits, use a shuttle and repeatedly shine a spotlight on it. Just make sure it's non-threatening and is a constantly repeating signal. Don't interfere with the probe, let it do what it wants as long as it doesn't try to leave the system other than through the Relay."

"Understood sir, T'vaz out."

After she disconnected, Vorex looked pointedly at Tevos "Looks like you need to make that decision sooner than later."

Tevos could only nod at that as she opened her communicator, hoping that the Chancellor had someone in mind.

* * *

The Chancellor did not have anyone in mind of course. It took full two days of debate before a Matron by the name of T'sen was chosen. Afterwards, it took another day to inform her of the situation and go over all the information they had and another three days to travel to Relay 314 from Thessia. She made sure to go over every possibility and argument with her staff, but knew she would have to make it up as she went along. Goddess, why did the Chancellor pick her of all people.

But now she was at the Relay, waiting for clearance from the Asari Fleet to travel through. Most of the Turian 2nd Fleet had been moved back to their deployment location, leaving only 1/3 of the ships to help guard the new Relay. With most of the Turian ships gone, operational command had been transferred to the Asari Fleet, as they would be staying until the situation was resolved.

After a few hours she was given the all clear, with the Frigate that was stationed in front of the probe moving back. She had picked up two Turian Armigers and a Salarian STG agent to bring along for the first contact, as well as her own squad of Asari Commandos. The thinking was that they would show a united front at the start, letting the new Aliens see that not all of the species were hostile and could work together. Also, once she melded with one of the Aliens to learn their language she would meld with the STG agent so that he could input the language in the translation software. They had wanted her to bring along a combat ship for protection, but she vetoed that idea as it might give the newcomers the wrong signal about their intentions.

Now she could delay the inevitable no longer. With a straight back and a voice that was far more calm and commanding than she felt at the moment, she ordered her pilot to go through the new Relay.

After appearing on the other side, she spotted a small squadron of ships waiting for her. There were 10 of the ships, 2 Cruisers and 8 Frigates just from their size. She could see turrets on the ships turning to point at her but she ordered her pilot to stay still and not move. If they were going to get anywhere with these newcomers they would have to give them a show of faith. After 30 seconds, something came out of one of the Cruisers and was approaching her ship at high speed.

They were those giant Mechs she realized. 4 of them were ones she recognized from the Batarian recordings, but the one in the center was new to her. It is painted white with blue highlights with some kind of blue plume on the head, carrying a large rifle and a shield. They stopped in front of her ship, making a semi-circle but not pointing their weapons directly at her.

Taking a deep breath, she started her First Contact Plan.

######################

Zechs Marquise pondered at his current predicament. A week and a half ago he was on Earth, managing the Preventers Mobile Suit Division when he was informed by Lady Une that Aliens had attacked Shanxi. Calling her out on her hoax, she replied by sending him written authorization from the President of the Systems Alliance permission to leave Earth to spearhead the counterattack on Shanxi. He knew she wouldn't joke about something as serious as this, especially with a paper trail that leads directly back to her, so he confirmed his orders and started preparations to leave earth.

But not even a day had passed before he was informed by Une that Shanxi was able to repel the Alien attack. She confirmed that he is still to go to Shanxi in case the Aliens came back, and that the 5th Fleet was already on their way there. All of Human Space was put on high alert at this point, with the outer most ExSo Colonies being especially jittery.

They had taken over 2,100 Aliens prisoner and were having trouble communicating with them due to the language barrier. They were making headway but it was slow going, especially since some of the sounds were physically impossible to make with a Human throat.

He had arrived four days ago, two days after the 5th Fleet had arrived. He was informed by the Admiral in charge, Kastanie Drescher, that probes were detected coming through the Relay, which were swiftly destroyed. She decided to send her own probe through, just to see what was waiting for them on the other side.

When the probe reported over 400 ships present, there was a near panic on the Bridge of the Dreadnought. Admiral Drescher was able to put a lid on it however and got everyone back to focusing on their duties. She and Zechs were discussing defensive plans for when the Alien Fleet came back when a Frigate sized ship started moving towards the Relay. Fearing the worst, the Admiral made a fleet wide broadcast to prepare for battle while Zechs made his way to the Tallgeese. He finished the startup sequence and was about to launch when Drescher told him that something weird was going on with the Aliens. The Alien Frigate had stopped in front of the probe and was flashing both radio waves and lights at it. The light and radio signals appeared at the same time, in a distinct pattern that kept repeating. She kept everyone on high alert but it didn't seem that the Aliens were going to invade just then.

For five days, the signal didn't change and the Frigate didn't move. However, about half of the Ships on the other side of the Relay left the system, which hopefully meant that there was no imminent invasion. Then today another ship entered the system. It was small, most likely a private transport ship. It docked with a one of the larger ships momentarily before moving in front of the probe for a few hours, while the Frigate moved back to the other ships. And now it had just come through the Relay.

He was wondering what he should do now when the Alien ship made that decision for him. It started flashing a light at him, flashing a certain pattern before repeating. It flashed: 3-1-4-1-5-9-2-6 before pausing for five seconds and repeating. He was wondering what the signal was when realization came.

Pi. They were flashing Pi at him. At the next pause, he flashed back 5-3-5-8-9-7-9-3, paused for five seconds and flashed it again. After another five second pause, the Alien ship started flashing a different pattern.

1_1-1_1-2-1_1-3-3-1_1-4-6-4-1. A pause of ten seconds and the sequence repeated again. Recognizing the Fibonacci sequence he replied at the next pause. 1-5-10-10-5-1_1-6-15-20-15-6-1_1-7-21-35-35-21-7-1, paused for ten seconds then repeated the sequence.

The Alien ship did nothing for a few minutes before rotating in place. The other MS Pilots immediately started targeting the ship but he ordered them to hold fire. The ship rotated 90 Degrees before opening up some sort of hatch on the side. The lights inside the hatch flashed a few times before it closed, opening up again after a few seconds and flashing again. It seems that they wanted someone to come aboard their ship for a face to face. Well, if that's what they wanted they'll have to compromise.

Opening a voice channel to the 5th Fleet, he said "This is Wind to Admiral Drescher, I have made contact with the Alien Shuttle."

Her Dreadnought and most of the 5th Fleet were hidden behind one of the planets near the Relay. Drescher responded "This is Drescher to Wind, have you determined what they want?"

"No. I have communicated with them using mathematical sequences but I believe they want to meet in person. They have opened a hatch and it looks like they are requesting someone enter."

"That's not going to happen Wind. If they want to meet face to face they will have to do so on our terms."

"I agree Admiral." He didn't want to be surrounded by an unknown potentially hostile Alien race without the home field advantage. "I suggest we have the Alien shuttle dock inside one of the Cruisers. They have more than enough space inside, and we can control the environment more easily should the worst occur."

The line was silent as the Admiral thought of the pros and cons of the decision before stating "Agreed. I will have the Cruiser _Old Flame_ have the honors. Zechs, you are in charge of First contact with these Aliens, don't screw up."

He grunted in response before disconnecting the call. Turning Tallgeese, he could see the Cruiser he launched from move forward towards him. Once it was halfway between the other ships and the Relay, it stopped and turned 90 degrees before opening up a hangar bay and lighting it up. Accepting the invitation, the Alien ship closed its hatch and moved forward towards the brightly lit hangar, with the Mobile Suits acting as an escort.

Flying above the Alien ship, Zechs was able to observe it as it moved. The engines were much smaller than what would be on an Alliance shuttle, meaning that it depends on the Eezo core more than the Human equivalent. Though the element zero readings were higher than expected, total energy output is about half of what a human ship that size would use. Whether that was because the ship was more efficient or that the Alliance has better energy production is unknown at the time. Regardless, they were now docking with the Cruiser.

Moving Tallgeese into an empty bay, he exited the cockpit and lowered himself to the deck with the attached winch, keeping an eye on the shuttle the whole time. Two of the Taurus Suits also settled into their bays, while the other two remained Suited up and close to the shuttle, ready to destroy it at a moment notice.

Once he reached the ground, he met with a group of Marines on security details and made his way to the Aliens who have yet to disembark. Stopping about 20 meters from the ship, he waited for them to make their move.

* * *

Suri T'sen went over everything again. She made sure her security detail knew not to do anything that would provoke the Aliens. They were already wary enough to attack them, she didn't want to provoke them any more than necessary. As such, the entire security detail would have their weapons stowed away, not in their hands and definitely not pointed anywhere even in the vague direction of the new Aliens. They had reported back to the fleet that peaceful contact had been made and

Looking over to her sensor technician she asked "What can you tell me about this ship?"

Scrolling through her readings, the technician made her report "The ship is made out of a very unique form of Titanium. It's denser than anything the Citadel races have made yet also about 1/3 the weight. The power output is the equivalent of a Dreadnought and based on these readings the Eezo core is about 20% larger than what a Cruiser this size and weight should have. I would need to study the ship more in depth in order to understand these variations."

"And what about the atmosphere?"

Going back to her screens the tech responded "It is within safe parameters for all species. Oxygen levels are less than standard for Salarians and Asari but within acceptable ranges, Nitrogen is on the upper limit for Turians and Carbon Dioxide is good for all Species. Atmospheric pressure is only slightly above Citadel Standard. You should be safe Ambassador."

That was a relief. They would not need to wear helmets which would make discussions easier. For some reason, beings tended to distrust those that hide their faces. She gathered the guards to her and made her way to the outer hatch. Once there, she waited for the atmospheric pressure levels inside the ship to match that of the hanger. This will allow the hatch to remain open, so they can quickly get back inside the shuttle if the worst were to happen. Though that may be a moot point, seeing that two of the giant Mechs were currently aiming at her ship and could no doubt destroy it in one shot.

The lock mechanism turned green, indicating that the equalization was complete and the door opened. She stepped out first, followed by the Turians, then the STG agent and three of her Commandos. At the bottom of the steps, one Turian and a Commando stayed near the hatch, while the rest formed up behind her. It had been a lengthy discussion, but it was decided that they would be in an arrowhead formation with her in front, the Salarian behind and to her left and the Turian behind and to her right. Commandos would be take the last two positions, completing the arrowhead. Now formed up, they made their way to the Alien party opposite them.

Suri nearly tripped on the smooth surface of the hangar deck when she saw what the Aliens looked like. Goddess, they look like male Asari. Though they had fur instead of tentacles on top of their heads, and the skin was a pinkish brown instead of purple or blue, the facial structure and proportions are near identical. She scolded herself for not checking on what they looked like with the external cameras before exiting, but the quicker they met in person the less suspicious they would be, so that option never occurred to her. It was a rookie mistake, one she hopefully would not repeat in the future.

So she kept walking, making sure to move at an unhurried pace, keeping herself calm and collected, features friendly and relatable, until she was about 2 meters away and stopped. Looking at the one in front, a being with long platinum-yellow fur and blue eyes, she gave a respectful bow. The being before her copied her, but while she had closed her eyes he (?) kept his open and looking at her the whole time. So she slowly brought her hand up to her chest and clearly annunciated "Suri," patting her chest. "Suri" she repeated, then gestured to her entirety and said "Asari". Keeping her motions slow and smooth, she gestured to her right "Arvius", and gestured to his entirety "Turian." Suri repeated the motions with the Salarian, though she had to come up with a name on the spot as the Agent didn't provide her with one. After she was done, she waited patiently and was rewarded when the alien patted himself on the chest and said "Zechs," before gesturing to his entirety and saying "Human." 'Zechs' stopped at that point, not introducing the guards around him for some reason. No matter, the first step is complete, now comes the first difficult part.

She slowly brought her left arm to chest level, holding it there for several seconds before activating her Omni-tool. The Human guards twitched in response, but Zechs did not. Emboldened by his acceptance, she moved her right hand to activate the video that had been pre-prepared. It was a simple cg drawing; it showed an Asari and a Turian, speech bubbles above them showing different symbols. The Asari then touched her hands to the Turians head and her Omni-Tool projected the words "Embrace Eternity." The Asari and Turian stepped back from each other and the speech bubbles showed the same symbols, the ones that were originally above the Asari. The next video played, showing the same scene except with a Salarian, and this time the speech bubbles matched the one above the Salarians. The videos looped two more times before ending. She hoped they would understand what she wanted and were willing to trust her enough to go through with it.

'Zechs' spoke into a communicator that was stationed on his shoulder and got a reply back. He was about to step forward when the guard on his right stopped him. The two conversed momentarily before the guard took off his helmet and presented himself to Suri.

Thankful that they understood, she approached the light brown human with black fur, put her hands on his (?) temple and initiated the meld. "Embrace Eternity!"

There's no real way to describe the meld in pure physical terms. It is like a controlled dream, where boundaries exist that you cannot touch, and two minds come together through a metaphysical connection. She found the other consciousness quickly and initiated the transfer. Deciding to show that she was honest she initiated the transfer of knowledge first, transferring to the Human Basic Thessian, the Asari language spoken throughout Citadel Space. After it was complete, she received the Human language of 'English.' Words, syntaxes, proper sentence structure and even slang flew into her, integrating into her knowledge and rooting into the language center of her mind. Once the transfer was complete, she ended the meld and brought them back to consciousness.

The meld took only about 10 seconds in real time but it felt much longer to her. Suri lowered her hands and shook her head to get rid of the slight headache, and she could see the Human guard doing the same before stepping back next to Zechs. But this time, she understood him when he asked "Are you all right Marine?"

"Yes sir" the Marine replied, "We transferred knowledge of language to each other: She taught me something called Basic Asari while I taught her English."

"Just English?"

"Yes sir."

Zechs focused on her once more, so she introduced herself fully this time. "Greetings, I am Suri T'sen, Ambassador of the Citadel Council."

"I am Zechs Marquise, Preventers Mobile Suit Division Commander and acting negotiator for the Human Systems Alliance." He paused and scrutinized her more closely, "Is the English language all that you received from Sergeant Pierre?"

Assuming Sergeant Pierre is the Human she melded with, "Yes. During the Meld we can only transfer knowledge we wish to. The other party cannot forcibly take information they are not allowed."

Zechs looked at her like he didn't believe her and said "Parlez-vous français?"

Suri was confused at what he said as she should have understood him. "I'm sorry I don't understand what you said just then. Could you repeat it?"

Zechs instead smirked and replied "No worries, just testing how honest you were." Before she could fully process that he dropped the smirk and continued "Now Ambassador, what are you doing here?"

Now comes the second difficult part.

* * *

Zechs had kept calm throughout the initial meeting. The blue Alien that identified herself as the Ambassador was surprised when she first saw him. He would have been surprised at her appearance as well, if he hadn't seen several of her species in the prisoner camps on Shanxi personally. So he had volunteered for the Alien brain scan but was held back by Sergeant Pierre, who argued that it was too risky at the moment. He allowed the Sergeant to take his place, vowing revenge should anything untoward happen. But his fears were unfounded, even his disbelief over their honesty was proven wrong when she only knew English rather than the Sergeants native French. For now, he would give them the benefit of the doubt.

Suri asked a question first, "Before we begin, may I provide my colleague with your language? He can start on a translation program so that your people may more freely communicate with ours."

He only had a few reservations, but as they had several languages they could fall back on acquiesced to her request. She smiled, disturbing him on how human it looked, before doing the brain scan on the Alien to her left, a big eyed frog looking thing. After she was done, Suri turned back to him while the frog thing went back towards the Alien ship, no doubt to use something more efficient than a wrist mounted computer.

"Thank you for that, he should have the translation software ready in about a day. To answer your question, I am here to invite a diplomat to the Citadel so that they may discuss the recent invasion of your sovereign space by Criminals with the Citadel Council."

Zechs narrowed his eyes at that. "Criminals you say?"

Suri nodded. "Yes. They activated the Relay and went through without the knowledge or approval of the Citadel Council. They have been caught and will be punished accordingly."

Zechs couldn't help the distrust that leaked into his voice, "Quite convenient that they were caught coming back instead of going through. Also convenient that you can say a failed invasion of our Colony happened without your Governments approval."

Suri internally cringed at that but kept her face friendly. "I understand how this looks from your standpoint. We had knowledge that the criminals we caught were on the move, but only had knowledge of their planned target at the last moment. At that point, our forces were in the middle of preparations to stop them when they came back through the Relay, where our peacekeeping force was laying in wait for them."

Zechs wanted to call her out on that but the necessity of being polite for first contact, and the fact that she could be telling the truth, stopped him from saying something offensive. "So what is the purpose of your visit?"

"I have come so that I may invite a Diplomat from your government to come to the Citadel for proper introduction, as well as learning your language to ease communication issues. The Citadel Council, the head of our government, will hear your grievances and welcome you properly into the Galactic stage."

Zechs mulled this over. He couldn't agree to anything himself but what she said made sense. If nothing else, they will find out where the leaders of their enemies would be. "I cannot promise anything, but I will send your request to my superiors. One moment please."

Zechs took a few steps back and activated his communicator, all while keeping eye contact with Suri. When he spoke, he used German instead of English, " _Admiral Drescher, Wind reporting. I have made peaceful contact with the Aliens. Using some unknown type of knowledge transfer, the leader of the Alien delegation has learned English. As we can now communicate efficiently, they informed me that they request an Ambassador go to meet their leaders regarding the attack on our Colony._ "

 _"_ _Wind, what kind of knowledge transfer? Is it safe?"_

 _"_ _As safe as an unknown ability is. The marine that transferred his knowledge seems fine, but I suggest quarantine afterwards just to be safe."_

A sigh came over the radio, _"Fine. So they want one of our leaders to meet with their leaders correct? What about the prisoners we took?"_

 _"_ _That is correct Admiral. We have not yet talked about the prisoners we have, I suspect that is one of the things our Ambassador will have to discuss."_

 _"_ _Understood Wind. I will pass along the message to High Command so that they can pass the message along to the Civilian leadership. Allow the Aliens to leave so that they may report back to the fleet waiting on the other side of the Relay. Do we have a way to communicate with them?"_

 _"_ _Not yet but we can figure something out."_

 _"_ _Affirmative. I am lowering readiness status to Defcon 2 and moving my fleet back to Shanxi once the Alien vessel has left, leaving the Flotilla in place. Stay with them for now as you will be the primary contact until further notice. Drescher Out."_

With the conversation over, he stepped forward again and said "I have passed along your message to my superior. We will have an Ambassador ready, but we are unsure how long it would take. As such, you are free to leave on your shuttle back through the Relay if you wish."

Suri was relieved and ecstatic, as this had ended in the best case scenario. "I thank you for your generosity and understanding." Taking out a small communicator from her belt, she held it out for Zechs to take. "This Communicator will let you contact me directly and vice versa. Simply push the button on top and it will alert me of your desire to talk. If this beeps, it means I am attempting to contact you. I will be back in about 24 of your hours with translation devices for you."

Accepting the device, he reminded himself to keep it away from anything important and to only use English while holding it. He is most likely being paranoid, but that's his duty. He clipped it onto his belt and bowed in thanks.

Suri bowed as well, taking a step back before turning around and walking sedately back to her ship. Hard part over, now it was her turn to wait on the Humans.

##############################

Four days have passed since Suri met with Zechs. Tensions in the Systems Alliance have been greatly reduced, especially once the Alien Fleet on the opposite side of the Relay left, leaving what would be considered a Patrol group behind. Ambassador Suri also kept her promise, returning in a day to deliver 30 translators as well as several copies of what is known as a Codex, along with a First Contact Package. Technicians have already reverse engineered the data in the Translators, allowing them to make their own with ease.

It is now one day after the Codex has been released to the public and the Heads of the System Alliance are meeting to discuss sending an Ambassador to the Citadel Council.

There is a general mistrust of the Aliens, especially after the attack, but they hold out hope that peace and cooperation is truly their goal. That Zechs Marquise believes their Ambassador to be truthful helps convince the Heads of Government of their sincerity.

Now it was time to decide whom to send. This individual would have to have the wellbeing of all of Humanity in mind. They would have to be a proponent of peace that would not be afraid to use force if necessary, and one whom the whole of Humanity would get behind no matter what course of action needs to be taken.

Luckily for them, she was both in the room and volunteered to go herself. And they knew which ship she would go on.

Look out Galaxy; the Humans are coming to the Citadel.

* * *

#

* * *

AN:

And that's chapter 4.

You should read the Summary and the beginning paragraph in the Voice Over voice from the Anime. You know the one that recapped the current situation before the episode began? I might go back and add those to the previous chapters.

Before I forget, let me answer some questions left by reviewers:

The reason this story is so short is because it's just the prologue. The first game is not going to be part of this story it will be its own separate story.

Rina is dead. Sorry, she was killed during the missile barrage. I'm surprised how many of you liked her but both Rina and Gorvon are dead. I didn't really plan on them surviving past the 3rd chapter as they're just side characters to show the diversity of the invaders. I am honestly surprised how many people liked her enough to ask about her, as her role in Chapter 2 was just to ask questions so that I can explain the plans Jon'Anum has for the Raid. I put her in chapter 3 because …. I just did no other reason. Ah, maybe to explain what happened to her but that's about it. She is unimportant to the overall story. I put Gorvon in chapter 3 as I needed someone from the Councils perspective on fighting human marines but didn't want to introduce another OC, he was originally not going to be in chapter 3 either.

The RX-79 is from the 08th MS team, you are correct. I will refer to them either as the Type-79 or more likely as the Ground Suit from now on. Type-79 is an homage to the Japanese military, as they call their weapons Type-(year they were first deployed/produced). E.G. Type-89 is their current assault rifle, first wielded/produced in 1989, while the Type-64 is their Battle Rifle, first wielded/produced in 1964. But I get tired of typing that so now they're the Ground Suit.

Gundams can exit the gravity well of a planet, but that's like the Bugatti Veyron going 250 Mph. Yes, it is possible, but you don't do it all the time and without preparation. The fact that the Taurus Suits are capable of doing that is just a demonstration of their technical abilities, not something that should be done all the time as it increases wear and tear as well as consuming most of its onboard fuel. So possible, but not practical.

There will not be any Main Character Deaths. This story is too short for that.

I know there's nothing in the consoles that would make them explode like that, that was an homage to the 80s and 90s Sci-Fi TV shows where the bridge of a space ship have sparks flying all over the consoles when the furthest part of the ship from them is attacked. Also, I had to explain Hackett's facial scars somehow.

I have my plans for all the Alien species, don't worry.

Most of the numbers I used for distances that MS weapons can use is so that practical space battle is possible. According to the Mass Effect Wiki, a dreadnought fires a round at 1.3% the speed of light, which is about 4,000 Km/s. Say everything fires at about that speed, so a ship can fire from Los Angeles and hit a target in Washington D.C. in less than a second. I needed to give the MS suits longer weapons range so that it's not a battle of snipers vs melee. And yeah, the games show the ships fighting in visual range but realistically (which, let's be honest, I shouldn't do as nothing about this is realistic) the ships wouldn't even see each other.

And that's everything from the reviewers so far, now to talk about this chapter.

Not much action, this is just a reaction piece for the Citadel species. Next chapter will have some action in it. Not as much as chapter 3, but I'll try to make it more interesting.

I put the thing about the weight of the ships on there to help explain why the Mobile Suits are so light. According to the Gundam wiki, most of the Mobile Suits are between 8-10 Tons. To give you an idea how light that is, the current U.S. Army MRAP vehicles are between 14-18 tons. The current M1A1 Abrams weigh 62 metric tons. Yeah, wrap your head around that.

I had Zechs know multiple languages as he was raised as European Royalty and was taught to be a Gentleman afterwards so yeah, he knows French, German and most likely Italian due to Noin. And English is Humanity's universal language 'cause 'Murica. And I chose the name Pierre because it was the most French sounding name I can think of other than Baguette.

Oh, and it's painfully obvious who is going to be the Ambassador for peace along with who her bodyguard will be. Honestly, anyone else wouldn't make sense. And she gets to explain why I chose this story title.

You people should feel lucky I got you this story as quickly as I did, as I have been consumed by post nuclear ravaged Boston. Now I just have to find Dogmeat after I sent him to Sanctuary.

Before you get too attached, Suri is just a one off character. She will introduce the Humans to the Council and vice versa, and that's about it.

I would like to say that the next chapter will be released around Christmas, but I have family coming over for the holidays which will consume a lot of my time. So the story will most likely be updated in the new year.

Until next time, Gunkatas.


	5. Chapter 5 - Negotiations at the Citadel

After Colony 203 – Two weeks after they Humanity was attacked by Aliens, another group of Extraterrestrial beings appeared, asking for peace. Though wary, the Systems Alliance jumped at the chance to make peaceful first contact with a Galactic government. A negotiator is to be sent to the Citadel and should she fail, then war will truly return.

Gundam Wing: Shattered Dreams. Chapter 5 - Negotiations at the Citadel

On the Council side of Relay 314, Suri is waiting in her transport craft for a reply from Zechs. Both the Asari and Turian fleet have left leaving only her ship, the STG ship (at least she thinks it's in the system, she can't really be sure), the Human probe and the Turian Patrol fleet that originally found the activated Relay. The last group wasn't exactly thrilled with their current assignment, as they had already spent three months staring at a Relay only to be told to stare at the same Relay for another month, but they followed orders like good Turians.

She had briefed the Councilors on the situation, along with her assessment that though they were mistrustful of her intentions, they didn't outright deny her request for a peaceful meeting on the Citadel. With her assurances, the Council withdrew the Asari and Turian Fleet from the system, posting just the Patrol Fleet here to deter any possible opportunist access to Human space until the Humans agreed to it.

So with nothing to do, she had started watching some shows she had fallen behind on. Just as the Blind Asari Justicar was about to sacrifice her life to protect a young Hanar child from the Asari Pirate who is the Justicar's mother's best friend's tenant's aunt's assistant's younger sister's bond mate's secret pureblood love child her communicator beeped. Sighing in frustration, she paused the show and brought up her Omni-tool. When it showed no incoming calls even though the incoming call sound was still going, she realized that it is the Humans trying to contact her and scrambled to find where she put the special communicator. Picking it up from her bedside table, she calmed herself before accepting the connection.

The face of Zechs appeared, his steely eyes boring straight into her own. "Ambassador Suri. I am contacting you to let you know that our Representative will arrive in this system in four days. Along with the ship carrying the Representative, two other ships will act as escorts to the Citadel."

Suri smiled at that. "That is good to hear Zechs. Would you like me to stay and guide your Representative to the Citadel?"

"No. We would like you to go to the Citadel before our Representative gets here so you can inform your leaders in person, as well as see to the arrangements to make her entry as smooth as possible. Also, I will be sending you our version of the Codex, giving an overview of human history and culture."

This was far more than Suri could hope for. "I thank you for your generosity. I would, however, recommend that at least two of our ships escort your Representative. This way, they will not be detained unnecessarily by any patrols that happen upon them, as well as deter any criminals that may try to hinder your approach."

Zechs was quiet for a while. "I do not have the authorization to approve that, but I will pass along your recommendations to my higher ups."

Suri smiled once more and gave her thanks before disconnecting. 10 minutes later she received a large file through the communicator, which she moved to her private terminal. She then contacted the Turian Patrol. Commodore Krikus greeted her. "Ambassador Suri, what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Commodore. The Humans have just informed me that their Representative will come to this system in four days. They have yet to agree about having an escort, but they seem practical enough that I would suggest you have two ships ready to depart when they arrive."

The Commodore agreed "We will be ready. Will you be staying in the system until their arrival?"

"No. I will be making my way to the Citadel to arrange for their visit. Please treat these newcomers as honored guests, they have much to be distrustful about."

Krikus could only agree to that statement. He saluted and disconnected, allowing Suri to contact the Councilors. Waiting a few minutes, only Vorex responded to her call. "Ambassador Suri, good to hear from you again. Eslein and Tevos are un-available as they are in talks with their respective governments about the Human situation. I presume this is the reason you are calling?"

"Yes sir. They have agreed to bring a Representative to the Citadel. Since it will take me two days to get there, the Representative should arrive in 6 to 7 days, allowing us time to go over their version of the Codex and formulate a response."

Pleased at the news, Vorex rubbed his right mandible in thought. "This is good. The fact that they provided us with their version of the Codex shows a level of trust that I myself would not have shown. Either way, forward me a copy of the file you received. I will ensure the other two Councilors, as well as our respective governments, receive a copy. See you soon Ambassador."

With the communication closed Suri sent the file to Councilor Vorex, before informing her pilot to make all due haste to the Citadel. Suri opened the Human Codex, starting her studies after saving her spot on the vid she was watching.

#####################

Suri sat in the Large Council Conference Room, which is different from the Private Chambers. It is almost as secure and is meant for extended meetings with a large number of important government officials. As such the room is much bigger, easily able to accommodate at least 30 sentient beings plus 3 Elcor and the media if needed. But for now it is filled with the 3 Councilors, Suri, Dalatrass Urrip and about a dozen members of the Citadel Diplomatic Corps.

The Council had decided to go public about the Humans just after the confirmation that a Representative is coming to the Citadel. All three attended a press conference and informed the Galaxy that a new sentient race had been discovered after they had been attacked. Though the new race was wary of them due to the way they were introduced to the Galactic Stage, they were willing to send a Representative to the Citadel. As such, the Councilors asked for calm. More information about the newcomers will be released as soon as possible. They answered a few questions, mainly about who had attacked the new race but the Council was tight lipped, only promising that they would answer within the next few days.

The Diplomatic Corps was created soon afterwards and given copies of the Human Codex. They were also given full access to the STG reports, as well as prisoner interviews and sensor recordings of the battle. They were instructed to make their own opinions and be ready to share them when all the members would meet in two days. The conference would then start about how to best reassure the Humans that their introduction was the exception, not the norm. The Council would be here just at the beginning, as they still had a Galaxy to run.

Other than Suri and the Councilors there are 3 Asari, 2 Turians, 3 Salarians, 2 Volus, 1 Hanar and 1 Elcor that made up the Diplomatic Corps members here. Each speaks for their individual government and interest. The Batarians were not invited of course.

Once everyone was seated and introduced to each other, Councilor Tevos started the conference. "Thank you all for coming on short notice. As you know, the Diplomatic Corps is only convened when meeting a new species. It is not unusual for members to be given little to no heads up of their task and you are no exception."

Vorex continued the speech, "As such, you have been given full clearance in regards to everything regarding the Humans, including the efforts of Ambassador Suri here when she met with them in person." He nodded to Suri, putting her in the spotlight for the rest of the conference. "Use these resources well, as these Humans could become hostile if not handled correctly."

Eslein took over, "Though a hostile first contact is not unprecedented, as all of you remember the Rachni, this time the new species would be justified in bringing a war to the Citadel Species. Though the STG is still combing over all the correspondences of Jon'Anum, we can safely say that this raid was conducted with the blessing of the Hegemony."

Tevos closed out their introduction. "Go forward knowing that the Council will be dealing with the Batarians in a permanent way soon. But keep your focus on the Humans and how they would react to us, any pitfalls we may accidentally wander into and any counterarguments and re-assurances we can provide. Finally, figure out how to bring them into the Citadel as an associate species. I know this is an incredibly difficult task we have put upon you, but you are the best that we have. Ladies and Gentleman, you have 3 days."

With that, the 3 Councilors stood up, nodded to the room and left with Dalatrass Urrip. Now it was just Suri and a dozen other sentient beings deciding on how best to welcome a new species on to the Galactic Stage peacefully.

An awkward silence permeated the room for a few moments, with the weight of their responsibilities bearing down on them before Suri took a deep breath and decided to start the conference. "So –"every head turned to her, but she plowed on anyways "I will start. From my analysis of their history, as well as what little I spoke with them about, I can say that they truly do want peace. As long as we are courteous and respectful, we should not have any issues with them from a military standpoint. Does anyone think differently?" she asked the room.

There were a few shared glances until a Turian cleared his throat "That may be true, but that doesn't discount the fact that they have a sizable military. Also, their recent history shows that they are not averse to war. We need to be careful in case they decide to become hostile."

"But this conference is about how to make them not hostile." Interrupted one of the Asari, "Let the Military worry about that. We just need to focus on what to say when they get here."

And so the conference went, arguments flying back and forth in an exchange of ideas. They got sidetracked a few times but Suri made sure to keep them focused.

* * *

Hours after the Conference had started the Councilors are standing at their podiums in the public chamber, waiting for the Batarian Ambassador to arrive. The Council had received a complaint from the Batarians, asking why they were not allowed to be part of the Diplomatic Corps. The Council replied that they are more than happy to inform the Ambassador of the reason. The Ambassador, of course, had no idea that the Slave Raid sent through Relay 314 had been captured in its entirety. The Hegemony had known that they would be out of contact with Jon'Anum for up to a month, so three weeks was within operational limits. The Council had also changed their mind at the last minute about mentioning Relay 314 to the public before Suri had left, instead stating that a force of Slavers were gathering in the Terminus but that they had been dealt with by the Asari and Turian Fleets.

Ambassador Draknor arrived to the chamber on time. He was pleased that the media was there, that way he could pressure the Councilors in a way that would force them to open up the Diplomatic Corps to a Batarian member. So he strode to the petitioners stage and bowed deeply, "Greetings honored Councilors. I thank you for granting me this chance to petition you on behalf of my people."

"Save your platitudes Ambassador, we are not here to discuss anything you wish to talk about" stated Vorex with a pompous air about him, "We are here to discuss something of greater consequence."

Draknor was caught off guard with the rudeness that Vorex showed. He knew that Vorex didn't like the Batarians but he always hid it behind a veil of curtesy as a sign of respect for his position. Such open hostility did not bode well. "Councilors, for what reason-"

"The reason I am showing such disdain for you is in fact the reason you are here" interrupted Vorex.

Tevos spoke, "We are here to inform your Government, and the citizens across Citadel space, that we know the Hegemony fully supported the illegal activation of Relay 314 as well as the unprovoked attack on the species that live on the other side of said Relay."

Draknor was nearly speechless, "Councilors, what-"

Vorex interrupted "You will speak only when we say you may. Until that time you are to remain silent. This is not a negotiation, this is a mere courtesy call."

"Indeed" said Eslein, "We identified the leader of the group of Slavers who traversed through Relay 314. With Council authorization, the STG lifted the protections of the individual known at the time as 4538125. After removal of protections, the identity of the individual was discovered to be Jon'Anum, a high ranking member of the Batarian Hegemony."

"When he was discovered communicating with other individuals that had the same protection, the STG asked for and received approval from the Council to view the communications that was sent between them and Jon'Anum without revealing their identities" continued Vorex.

Tevos delivered the last blow. "The Council now has definitive proof that Jon'Anum activated Relay 314 illegally and commissioned a Slave Raid to attack the new unknown species with the blessing of the Hegemon himself. Both actions are grave offenses, and as such carry heavy consequences."

Draknor had to salvage something from this, "Councilors-"

"I said SILENCE Ambassador!" yelled Vorex, "If you cannot follow such a simple order I will have the Spectre behind you cut off your tongue!"

Draknor was about to say something when an Omni-blade activated just above his right shoulder, close to his neck. Turning his head he could see a helmeted Asari de-cloak. She gestured with her head to pay attention to the Councilors, and he did so with trepidation.

Vorex knows he is enjoying this far too much but the catharsis was something he needed badly. For too long he had to hold back his true thoughts regarding the Hegemony. For too long the Turians had to sit idly by while innocent beings were sold into Slavery. Now he can say what every Turian Councilor for the last several hundred years has wanted to say publicly and revel in its vindictive pleasure. And if the Batarians make the wrong choice, he could announce what the Hierarchy has wanted to do to the Hegemony for a long, long time. But for now he calmed himself down to something acceptable for a being of his position before speaking.

"As I was about to say, the penalties your government are about to receive is harsh, but they may be mitigated should the correct actions be taken. I myself would rather see your entire species kicked out of Citadel space, but my other two colleagues believe your people are not yet beyond redemption."

Eslein was next, "These penalties are effective immediately and they cannot be challenged or changed. Realize that our punishment could be much harsher than what they are."

Tevos once again spoke last, looking down upon the Ambassador with air of one about to pass divine judgement upon a being they disdain, "Two Billion Credits have been removed from the Hegemony State Assets to be given as Reparations to the Humans. This sum will be added to whatever payment they receive from your government for damages caused by the Slave Raid. As such, all Hegemony assets in Council space is frozen, all financial transactions between the Hegemony and Council space are suspended indefinitely. All Batarian Spectres are hereby stripped of their ranks and no Batarian may become a Spectre for the next two hundred years. Electronic protection is also removed for all members of the Batarian Hegemony, and all Hegemony officials will be monitored by the STG for the next ten years minimum." Draknor couldn't believe what he was hearing. It had to be a translator error. He wanted to speak, but the glowing Omni-blade reminded him of the threat Councilor Vorex gave him. "This is the preliminary sentence, but should your government agree to a single demand of the Council, no other punishments will be visited upon your people."

When Tevos didn't continue talking, Draknor desperately wanted to ask what the Council demanded but didn't want to risk losing his tongue and not being able to ask anyways. Vorex however, could see this dilemma and said aloud "Ambassador, you may ask one question and one question only."

Draknor swallowed, his mouth dry. "What- _cough_ -what does the Council demand of the Hegemony?"

Eslein spoke first this time "When discussing why this illegal activity occurred, it came down to a single fundamental reason."

Tevos was next now "It is agreed between the Councilors and our respective governments that we have been too lenient on the Batarians, and that is why they believed they could get away with the crimes they committed."

Vorex dealt the finishing blow "The reason this state sanctioned crime occurred is the same reason why the Batarians have yet to earn a place on the Council themselves. And the only way to remain part of the Citadel Government is to comply with all Citadel laws." He paused then, savoring every piece of this moment. The anticipation in the air, the look of despair on Draknors' face, the satisfaction his own people would have once the Council demand was made clear. "The Council hereby demands the immediate cessation of Slavery in Batarian territory."

"WHAT!?"

"I will allow that, seeing that this has to be a big shock for you and your people." Vorex stated with false sympathy. He could hear the hushed whisperings of the press corps members in attendance and knew that what he said just caused a firestorm of debate. "However, this Council has determined that your institution of Slavery is what caused the reckless actions taken by Jon'Anum. As such, to keep your embassy and standing in Council Space you must abolish Slavery in all of your territories and repatriate all Slaves to their respective species government." He narrowed his eyes and glared at Draknor, leaning over his podium while letting all the rage and hatred of his people project through his very being. "We will drag your species kicking and screaming into the light of Galactic Civilization or you can rot in the darkness of your own creation forever. You have one week."

Straightening up, he looked over to Tevos and Eslein who gave nods of support and approval. Vorex then closed out the session, "This Council meeting is hereby adjourned. Spectre, escort the Ambassador back to his embassy. Make sure he returns quickly and remains unmolested."

The Spectre nodded, deactivating her Omni-blade before grabbing the unmoving Draknor roughly by the arm and dragging him out of the Council Chambers. Once he was gone, the Council members left to go to the press room to answer the many questions that the media no doubt has.

* * *

In the conference room with the Diplomatic Corp members, everyone had stopped their discussion to watch the beat down the Batarian Ambassador just received from the Councilors. No member of the Corp had any love for the Hegemony but they are surprised that the Council actually took a strong stance against them. Sanctions and reparations were expected, but to actually threaten them with closing their embassy was more than anyone would think was going to happen.

"This one is glad that something is finally being done about the Batarians. This one only wishes that it was done sooner."

"With heavy sarcasm: of course, we all know that the Hanar would be on the front lines of any war with the Batarians. With great relief: at least this is one less thing we have to worry about when the Humans come."

"Yes … _shhhhck_ … but with the trade between the Batarians and … _shhhhck_ … the Council species halted, I estimate… _shhhhck_ … a loss of GDP between 3 and 6 % next year."

"… _shhhhck_ … I concur."

Suri took over "Regardless, I agree with B'hun when he says we no longer have to worry about the Batarians when the humans come." She checked her watch. "We have been cooped up in this room for the last four hours. Let's take an hour break. We'll come back and continue this discussion then."

The others agreed to that. Other than a few individuals who had gone to the bathroom no one had left the room. They had food delivered to them and ate while working. Now was a chance to stretch their stiff limbs and get some air.

As the unofficial leader, Suri stayed seated until everyone had left. Once they were gone, she stood up and stretched her arms, feeling joints along her whole body pop. With that done, she decided to take a walk around the presidium and get some fresh (recycled) air from the parks.

As she exited the conference room and made her way down to the Presidium Parks, she noticed two C-Sec officers discretely following her. They didn't expect anyone to attack her but she was too important to just wander around unguarded. But giving her guards like the Councilors would put too much attention on her, so instead of a heavily armed squad of soldiers that went everywhere she had two plainclothes officers shadowing her. She only noticed them because she had been introduced to them when she first got to the Citadel.

But she pushed that from her mind as she got into one of the automated air cars, setting the destination to one of the many parks along the presidium. She arrived at her destination within a few minutes, giving her most of the hour to explore and relax. Stopping by a food vendor, she waited in line for a snack and a drink, listening to the conversations around her

"I can't believe the Council finally took a harsh stance against the Batarians! They've been a thorn in the side of the Citadel for so long, but I would have thought the Batarians would close their embassy on their own terms, rather than have the Council kick them out like the Quarians."

"About time I say! We should have gone to war with the Hegemony long ago. The Turians would have gladly brought their government down but the Asari kept stalling and stalling."

"Wonder what these new comers will be like? Will be interested in learning about them. Technology would be exciting."

"… _shhhhck …_ economy should increase with new associate species … _shhhhck_ … but Batarians being sanctioned will most … _shhhhck_ … likely offset any gains."

"Batarians have kept the Traverse in line, what happens now that the Council has angered them?"

"With cautious optimism: may we can get them to –"

"-Batarians won't take this lying down, mark my –"

"-Slavery has always been illegal, that the Council – '

"-is now really the right time to – "

"-the Citadel cannot afford to – "

"-but what about –"

"-Batarians – "

"-Humans –"

"-is war really –"

"What can I get for you ma'am?"

Suri jumped out of her thoughts at the Salarians words. She had not noticed that she was now at the front of the line. Panicking slightly she ordered two random things from the menu, not knowing what they were.

"Excellent choice ma'am, please wait one moment." The Salarian then grabbed a plastic tray and started putting something on it. He then grabbed a cup and dispensed a clear syrup before adding another liquid to the cup, turning what is inside it a bright blue. He put that in front of Suri as well as the tray, which held a purple … thing that looked like a slime monster of some sort and a two pronged fork. "There you go, that will be 12 credits."

Suri was a too shocked to respond correctly and automatically paid with her Omni-tool. She took her two … food (?) items and made her way inside the park. Sitting down on a bench, she decided that she paid good money for these things, may as well try them. The drink reminded her of something she tried on a beach once during her college years and the purple slime was actually quite tasty, though a bit sticky. She had to laugh at herself. There she is, the un-official leader of the Diplomatic Corps for introducing Humans to Citadel, and she was eating something she didn't think was food a few minutes ago because she was too engrossed in eavesdropping on others to pay attention to what she wanted. But she was able to relax and unwind which is exactly what she needed. So after she was done with her food, she spent the rest of the time just walking around the park until she had to go back to the conference.

#######################

Commodore Krikus instructed his patrol fleet to present their best. The Humans would be coming through the Relay either today or tomorrow, and he wanted to show the Turian Hierarchy in a good light.

"Incoming communications sir." Said his comm tech, "It's the humans."

"Patch them through."

The face of a Human appeared on the main screen. From the description he had received from Ambassador Suri the human he is looking at is one Zechs, who didn't waste any time. "This is Zechs Marquise of the System Alliance. The Alliance delegation will be traveling through the Relay shortly. Our leaders have agreed to allow two ships to act as escorts."

Krikus is pleased. It would give them time to do some subtle scans on their ships while traveling together, as well as preventing any confusion or hostilities on the way to the Citadel. "Message received. I will have two of my ships ready to travel with your ships when they come through. You are sending three ships correct?"

"That is correct."

"Very well. I await their arrival."

Once Zechs signed off, Krikus sent out a patrol wide communication, telling everyone that the Humans would be coming soon as well as informing the two Frigates of their escort duty.

A few hours later a ship came through the Mass Relay. It was big and blocky and looked made for war. It is the size of a cruiser and was soon followed by another identical looking ship, with the naming on the side being the only difference. Once those two ships came through, they moved out of the way for the third ship.

And when it appeared Krikus could feel his mouth drop open, his mandibles spreading in shock and surprise. For a few moments he couldn't even form a coherent thought. The entire bridge was silent, save for the clicks of the computers. He finally shook himself out of his stupor and started barking orders. "SENSORS! Get me a scan of that ship, everything you can! Comms! Contact the other ships in the patrol fleet and tell them not to do anything rash. Open up a channel with the aliens, we need to know what is going on!"

The bridge exploded into fury as the officers went to follow orders. While they were busy doing that, Krikus continued to examine the newest ship. It is big, ludicrously so.

"Sir," his second in command said, "we have an incoming signal from the….large human ship. Authorization codes state that is the ship the ambassador is on. Audio and Visual." Perfect. Just perfect.

"Put it through on the main screen." The screen changed from the picture of the ships to a human with dark hair that was partially covering the right eye. "This is Commodore Krikus of the Turian Hierarchy."

"I am Lucrezia Noin of the Human Systems Alliance, escorting our Ambassador to the Citadel. I was informed that two of your ships would be escorting us." More like tagging along. His two Frigates would look like minnows chasing a whale.

Still, "Yes. Two of my Frigates will escort your ships to the Citadel. At cruising speed it will take roughly two days to get there, as long as there are no complications in transit."

"I await your ships Commodore." The call disconnected and the view switched back to the Human ships, which started to move forward with the two cruisers escorting the….large one. He turned to his second in command. "Inform the two frigates to form up with the Human ships. Then send a message to the Hierarchy and the Council that the Human ships are coming. Attach all scans we have of their ships as well as images. They need to be ready for this." The Lieutenant saluted and proceeded to fulfill his orders.

Krikus turned back to the main screen. Two of his Frigates shortly left his formation and joined the Human ships, which started to make their way over to next system over. Whatever happens next, Krikus can only think of one thing: he's glad the Hierarchy rejected his request to go through the relay when he asked.

######################

Today is the day the Humans would get to the Citadel. Councilor Tevos stood in one of the viewing galleries of the Presidium Tower which overlooks the whole of the Citadel. She reserved the room for the day to help her think and unwind. No one else was in the room, not even her guards.

When Commodore Krikus reported in that the Humans had passed through the Relay, the Council simply noted their punctuality. But when the report detailing the ships they took with them came in, the Council was reminded that though they seem peaceful, they had just been unjustly attacked and would no doubt be distrustful. The Councilors sent the new information to the Diplomatic Corps, who had a shared heart attack at the amount of force being brought. They had to rethink several assumptions because of this, throwing them into a panic until Suri was able to get them to calm down. Tevos then moved to make sure the Media did not introduce the Humans on their own, releasing an official statement along with pictures and video. Though there was some unrest when the size of the ships coming were revealed, the Council was able to quickly reassure the populace that they are safe by reminding the people the reason why they were coming in the first place.

Tevos had been looking out over the Citadel for a few hours now to help remind her of her duty and what was at stake. Her Omni-tool activated, showing a connection to her guard Captain. "Councilor, Ambassador Suri T'sen is requesting to see you."

"Let her in Captain."

The connection ended and the door opened a few moments later, allowing Suri to enter and approach the Councilor. Tevos turned to face her, and Suri stopped five paces away and bowed. "Councilor, thank you for meeting with me."

Tevos smiled at her and motioned her to sit in one of the seats in the viewing gallery. Tevos sat down across from Suri. "It is no problem at all. The work you have done for the Council has been priceless."

Tevos saw Suri hesitate at that proclamation and asked "Is there something you wanted to ask me?" as she sent a few orders on her Omni-tool to her guards.

Suri hesitated a moment longer. "Yes Councilor, I do have something I wanted to ask you." The door opened once more and a guard entered with a tray of snacks and a tea set. She set it down on the table between the two and left after bowing to them both. Once the guard left Suri continued "I just want to know, why was I chosen to meet with the Humans? There are many others who are far more experienced then I am on negotiations, whether that be business or diplomacy."

Tevos smiled at her and poured tea for both of them, picking up her own cup and saucer before answering. "That is the only question you have?" Suri nodded and then slowly picked up her own tea cup. "The reason the Chancellor chose you over anyone else is that you were the best choice we had at the time." Suri was about to respond when Tevos held her hand up. "Please let me explain. Once I am done you may ask your questions." Chastised, Suri took a timid sip of her drink while Tevos drank from hers more calmly.

"You wonder why we did not send a Matriarch or some such being? Someone who has gone through hundreds of negotiations and diplomatic meetings?" Suri nodded. "A Matriarch was not chosen because all Matriarchs, myself included, have a personal agenda. Each and every one of us would have used the negotiations for our own personal benefit even as we tried to bring the Humans into the galactic fold. It is second nature to us at our age. The Chancellor understands this, which is why a Matron was chosen instead."

Tevos paused and took another sip of her tea, setting it back down to refill her cup. Suri took this moment to ask "I understand why a Matron was chosen, but I still do not understand why I was chosen. There are many other Matrons who have more experience than I do that could have been sent."

Tevos took another deep drink from her cup before setting it back down. "Indeed. There are many other Matrons that could have been chosen, many of whom had more real world experience than you do. But each of those Matrons is tied to one or more Matriarchs, who would have no doubt attempted to influence the negotiations for the benefit of themselves to the detriment of the galaxy. You on the other hand, only know a few Matriarchs in passing, having gone through school and your career without the matronage of any Matriarch, a rare thing indeed."

Tevos brought her arm up activated her Omni-tool, opening a file containing the history of one Suri T'sen. "Suri T'sen, 381 years old, Graduate of the University of Thessia and current professor of advanced Xeno Studies at said school. Has five degrees, one for politics, one for archaeology, one for biology (both Xeno and Asari), one for Xeno languages and a Doctorate for Xeno Cultures. The Thesis for your doctorate is now required reading for all Asari who wish to go outside of Asari space. In fact, several of your papers have given the Asari a greater insight to not only the Protheans but other species cultures. Several prominent Matriarchs have stated that they used your studies to better understand those they did business with, resulting in better terms through a better comprehension of their counterpart. Your mother is a retired Matriarch living on the edge of Asari and Salarian space who rarely takes part in Asari politics and your younger sister is currently a Commando." Tevos deactivated her Omni-tool, picking up her tea once more and taking a small sip. "In short: You were chosen because you were an unimportant individual that would not be influenced by others and understands the culture and viewpoint of aliens, able to comprehend their world view and use it to your advantage."

Suri blushed when Tevos started reading her accomplishments but got a thoughtful look when she finished. Something about being unimportant stuck with her. She thought about it a moment longer and had an epiphany, snapping her gaze to Tevos who merely raised an eyebrow. "You have a question for me Suri?"

Suri swallowed the lump in her throat. "Yes Councilor, I do. You said I was unimportant. What did you mean by that?"

Tevos smiled sadly at her. "It means that should the humans have been hostile your death would not have led to an immediate war. The Council could have put your death aside as a necessary sacrifice in order to achieve peace with a new species." Tevos took in the betrayed look on Suri's face in stride, as it is not the first or last time she will see such a thing. "But rest assured, though you were unimportant when you were sent you are near irreplaceable now."

Suri had trouble believing that, "What do you mean Councilor? Nothing has changed."

"Nothing child?" Tevos partially hid her grin behind her teacup, "You are the first being in Citadel Space that has peaceful contact with the Humans. You have more direct contact with them than any other sentient we have access to. Regardless of what happens next, you will no doubt be the point of contact for the Systems Alliance into Citadel Space and vice versa, becoming the highest authority regarding Humans for the foreseeable future. Anyone who wants an introduction will approach you first. Anyone attempting to do business will ask for your advice. A Human wanting to access Citadel space will no doubt call you first. In addition to all of that, you also led the Diplomatic Corps during their emergency summit. I hope you're ready for this Ambassador. You are going to be quite busy for the next few years."

Tevos took another drink before turning her head to look out towards the Citadel once more. Suri for her part is still in shock. But the Councilor is right. Everything changed for her the moment she agreed to be the Ambassador to these Humans. The pair sat in silence for a few minutes before Suri stated, "Councilor Tevos." Tevos turned to her, "I do not think I am ready for such responsibilities."

Tevos smiled in understanding and sympathy "I know, but rarely does the Galaxy give us forewarning when large events are thrust upon us. You are the best we had, and now you have become the one we need."

The pair fell into a comfortable silence afterwards for the next few hours, both enjoying the scenery while contemplating what comes next. But like all things, their time together came to an end. Tevos received a notice on her Omni-tool. Dismissing it, she got up from her seat, Suri following her lead. "The Humans are approaching the Relay that connects to the Citadel. You know which docking station they are assigned correct?" Suri nodded, "Good. I suggest you go there to greet them when they arrive. I will get the other two Councilors ready for the meeting."

Suri and Tevos bowed to each other and left, each preparing for their own meeting to come.

* * *

Matriarch Lidanya sat in the command chair of the Destiny Ascension. She received the notification of the Humans pending arrival and had her crew prepare for anything. Even though it was supposed to be for a peace summit they were still an unknown and thus dangerous. She also heard from her STG contact something about Batarian fleet movements but nothing concrete yet.

But now all the preparations are in place and all that is left to do is wait. So she sat in her chair, getting ahead of the reports she had. Her comms officer then spoke up "Admiral, notice from the scouts on the other side of the Relay. The Humans and their Turian escort have transitioned through and should be arriving momentarily." Lidanya acknowledge the report and focused on the main screen. That they brought a big ship is no surprise, as space ships in peace time are used as a not so subtle intimidation tactic. They state: look at us, look at what we can do, gaze in awe at our marvels. It's the same reason that the Destiny Ascension is in the forefront of the Citadel Defense Fleet.

Two Turian Frigates exited the Mass Relay, automatically sending IFF and authorization codes to the Citadel. They were followed shortly by another two ships of unfamiliar design, both blocky and streamlined. They were bare grey metal with blue paint adorning the sides. All four ships quickly moved out of the way for the last ship.

The ship is white, almost metallic in color. It is a wedge shape, wider than it is long. "Sensors, what are the dimensions of the largest human ship?"

The Sensor officer did not hesitate at the sight of the ship and pushed a few commands on her console, replying "Ship has a Width of 3000 Meters, Length of 1000 Meters, at tallest point it has a height of 850 meters, average height of 400 Meters." The sensor tech turned to her, "Based on the computer calculations, the interior space of that ship is equal to that of the Destiny Ascension. However, I cannot get any readings on power output, though I can tell that their shields are on."

Lidanya took the information without physically betraying any of her thoughts. The Humans trusted them enough to come, but believed something would happen that would require the firepower of one of the largest ships in the galaxy. Hiding their energy readings mean they have some kind of stealth capability, and their shields being on means they are waiting to be attacked.

She was brought out of her thoughts by her Comms officer. "Admiral, the…um…large human ship is hailing us." Lidanya nodded. "Put it on the main screen." The officer acknowledge and the view changed to show a human.

"This is Lucrecia Noin on Preventers Carrier _Peacemillion_ , requesting permission to approach the Citadel with escorts for negotiations."

" _Peacemillion_ , this is the Admiral Lidanya of the Destiny Ascension, permission is granted. Your ship is too large to dock with the Citadel, you will need to use a shuttle in order to drop off your diplomats. Please proceed to these coordinates in the meantime."

There was a pause while the coordinates were sent before the human replied "Coordinates received. We will have our shuttle and escorts deploy after moving into position. Peacemillion out."

Peacemillion turned on its main engines, starting their move to the given coordinates while the two Turian Frigates moved to join the Turian formation of the Defense fleet. Now all Lidanya had to do is make sure nothing happens while they are here.

* * *

Relena Darlian, Vice-Interior Minister of the Human Systems Alliance and current acting Ambassador to the Citadel Governments, looked out of the viewing platform of Peacemillion towards this 'Citadel'. Heero, her ever silent guardian, leaned against the wall beside the door. She knows his thoughts about her coming here, as everyone but she agreed that it was too big a risk. But in the end, they acquiesced to her request.

 _ **FLASHBACK**_

"I will go."

Conversation stopped. The top leaders of both the Civilian and Military side of the Systems Alliance had convened in the parliamentary chambers at Arcturus Station. Representatives from every Colony and Planetary system governed by the Alliance had gathered to discuss the next steps regarding the Aliens. They had agree to go to their capital, but had faltered on who it was to send. An entire day had been wasted going through name after name, but they had been unable to agree on a single person.

So Relena stood up from her seat. Modeled after the old U.N. meeting room, only much larger and with 3 balconies rather than one floor, Relena had been sitting at the front of the room, three seats to the right of President of the Alliance. She faced them wearing her normal suit, an updated version of what she was wearing when she was kidnapped by Mariemaia. It is the same suit that she would be wearing to the Citadel. Steeling her voice to a commanding tone, she said "I will go to the Citadel to act as the first Ambassador for Humanity."

Every person in the room turned to look at her incredulously before they all stood up and started protesting at the top of their voice, a cacophony of noise that made sure no one was heard. She remained standing while the President shouted for order and banged on his gavel. Staring straight ahead, Relena didn't need to turn to know that Heero is glaring at her from his spot by the wall, his disapproval more than apparent even though he has said nothing.

It took over ten minutes for all the voices to die down and everyone to take their seats. Once order was brought back into the chamber, the President announced "Relena Darlian has the floor" and sat back down.

Relena had stayed standing the entire time and now had every eye in the room, if not in Human space, staring at her. But she would not back down now. "I volunteer myself to go to this Citadel to meet with their leaders, in order to discuss the attack on our Colony and any further relationships our peoples will have. Are there any objections?"

Every person in the room once more stood up and started shouting. She should have seen that coming, but luckily the President had turned off all the microphones except hers. "One at a time, one at a time please." She kept repeating that line until they once more quieted down and took their seats. "Please, one at a time. Who here has an objection regarding me going to the Citadel?"

Admiral Jon Grissom, head of the Systems Alliance Navy, stood up. Relena recognized that he had the floor and the President re-activated all the mics. "Your highness –"the glare he received from Relena was cold enough to make deep space feel like a tropical beach. They all know better than to call her that. "-I-I mean, Vice Minister Darlian. We still cannot trust these Aliens. For all we know this could be a trap used to lull us into a false sense of security before they attack. It is much too dangerous for someone of your importance to go."

"I understand your concern Admiral, but I still believe that I should be the one to go."

One of the Senators stood up this time. Relena recognized him as being one of the sub leaders. "Madam Relena, why are you unwilling to have someone go in your place?"

"Because I am unwilling to order someone to do something I myself am unwilling to do." She looked around the room, seeing most if not all of the faces still apprehensive of her decision. "This is a pivotal moment in human history. We need someone who has the best interest of Humanity at heart."

"And you think," interrupted a Senator from the 2nd balcony, "that you are such a person? That we are sheep that will follow you to our doom?"

Relena recognized the voice as belonging to Count Walsley. The Count was a supporter of the Romefeller Foundation, working closely alongside Duke Dermail over many years. After AC 195, he purchased a Colony and became its governor and later the Senate representative. Though he was suspected of helping finance the Mariemaia coup attempt only circumstantial evidence could be found. He was displeased that Relena turned from a Puppet leader into her own force when she was installed as the Queen of the World. He continues to be annoyed at her ability to curtail his attempts to undermine the other Colonies for his own benefit.

The Count continued speaking, not even having the courtesy or courage to stand while doing so. "How do we know that Madam Relena won't simply succumb to whatever demands these Aliens have in order to secure her ' _peace_ ' at any price?" He spat out the word 'peace' like it was a curse.

There was an immediate uproar, one that took quite some time to subside. But once everyone had been seated, Relena replied coldly "Because while you were demanding reparations for non-existent damages done to your Colony in the wake of Mariemaia's coup, I was busy making sure that the soldiers and civilians that took part in the conflict were looked after." Even from this distance, she could see his face twist in impotent rage. But Relena did not give him time to respond to her jab. "And do not forget Senator that I was the one who recommended the Military be started again in AC197, and I did so before the discovery of the Mars Archives."

She had shocked the entire ESUN when she made the proposal. But during the Coup attempt, she recognized the need for a Military to protect the people. That Pacifism does not negate the means to be able to defend oneself. And as much as she wishes, she knows that Humanity as a whole is not yet ready for true Pacifism.

"Do not trifle with me Senator, for I am capable of much more than you believe." She dismissed him then, no longer paying special attention as he is not worth her time. Addressing the room she continued to argue her cause "The next few days and weeks will change how humanity views the Galaxy. This one event will shape our future for longer than we can imagine. The Ambassador we send MUST have the best interest of Humanity at heart. I do not recommend myself because I think the task is easy. I do not ask for this duty because I see myself as better than everyone. I ask to do this because I believe I am the right person for this task at this point in time. If you do not share my view, then say so, and I will not hold it against you. I swear this on my honor not only as a Darlian, but as a Peacecraft." Murmurs broke out at that last declaration, as Relena had never called on her birth heritage before. To do so reveals how serious she is. "Do not oppose my motion in order to keep me safe, as sending the wrong Ambassador will endanger us all. All I ask is that you consider my proposal and vote your conscience."

Relena sat back down while murmurs continued around the meeting chamber. The President let the members discuss the proposal amongst themselves for a few minutes before banging his gavel to quiet everyone down. "Vice Interior Minister Relena Darlian has motioned for herself to become the Ambassador to the Citadel Government for the duration of these peace negotiations. I second that motion. All in favor vote now." The tally appeared on the screen behind the President. "All oppose vote now." The number stayed at zero, though there were a number of abstentions. "The proposal has passed. Relena Darlian will temporarily suspend her duties as Vice Interior Minister and become the Official Ambassador for Human Systems Alliance to the Citadel Governments. Admiral Grissom, Commander Une, please make the security arrangements. We now move to what we demand as reparations for the unprovoked attack on our Colony world."

Relena only half paid attention from that point on, as she started going through everything she would need for the upcoming meeting at the Citadel. But first, she would need to convince her husband, brother and sister-in-law that her going was a good thing.

 _ **END FLASHBACK**_

Indeed, the argument Relena had with Heero that night was more stressful than convincing a large room full of the most powerful humans alive. But while Heero never really raised his voice, and instead showed his displeasure by his facial gestures and body language, Noin was not so reserved with her arguments. But Relena was able to get them to let her go, as long as Noin is in charge of her security and Heero stayed as her personal bodyguard. But even Noin was nowhere near as confrontational as Zechs was when he found out she was the Ambassador. The reason they were delayed in crossing the Relay to Council Space was due to Zechs forcefully boarding Peacemillion with the Tallgeese resulting in a very loud, very long argument with her. He only relented when Heero and Noin had taken him aside and said something that Relena didn't catch.

"…-rong?"

Relena came back to the present, turning towards Heero with a questioning look. "Did you say something Heero?"

Face still passive, he asked again "What's wrong? You've been staring blankly out the window for the past few hours."

Relena turned back to the window. "Just wondering what you and Noin told Zechs to convince him to let me come here."

Heero was silent for a few moments, no doubt debating on whether he should tell her or not before saying "We told him that should anything happen, every single person accompanying you is willing to die to make sure you return safely to the Alliance." Relena whipped around to stare at him with wide eyes. "I also told him that should they betray us, I would destroy their 'Citadel' and kill every single inhabitant no matter their age, gender or innocence."

Relena could only rub her forehead in exasperation at the answer, as she knew he would never lie to her. Humanity seemed to hold her on some nigh untouchable pedestal. And as useful as that is when she needs to get things done, at times like this it seems to be more trouble than it's worth.

"Heero…"

"I will not apologize for telling you the truth. You know better than to ask questions when you're unsure if you want to know the answer."

Relena could only sigh in exasperation before looking at Heero with fondness. Still, that doesn't excuse the lengths he would go to avenge her. As she was about to start a no doubt useless argument the door opened, revealing one Duo Maxwell already suited up in his space suit unlike Heero.

"Yo Princess so this is where you were! Checking out the terrain before you go forth and conquer your enemies?" Duo strolled right up to her and enveloped the Ambassador in a hug which Relena returned. "Just give us the word, my lady, and we'll conquer all of known space for you" he said cheekily.

Relena slapped him on the arm "Duo! You know better than to joke about something like that." Even as she admonished him she couldn't help but smile at his chipper attitude.

"Ah well, tell me if you change your mind. Anyways, where's your dark and broody shadow?" he said while looking left and right.

Heero cleared his throat and Duo turned to face him "There you are buddy! Noin says to go ahead and get suited up, we should be arriving at the docking coordinates soon." Indeed, Relena could see the Citadel is much bigger than it was moments ago.

Heero 'hmmd' in response, causing Duo to comically frown before he turned back to Relena "Don't mind him Relena. And don't worry, if anything should happen to him Hilde and I are more than willing to take you into our family. Hilde even said she's willing to be in an open marriage if it's with you." Relena laughed while Heero focused his patented Death Glare at Duo, which caused the pilot to comically sweat drop and bring up his left arm to his face before stating "Oh goodness, look at my wrist, it's time for me to buy a watch. See you later Relena." And he bolted out the door furthest away from her husband who kept his Death Glare on him even after the door closed.

Relena giggled before approaching Heero and putting a hand on his cheek, turning him to face her. His eyes softened and she smiled before pulling him into a deep kiss that lasted several moments. When they parted, Heero took her hands before stating "You don't have to do this. We can send Noin instead and keep you on the ship."

Relena smiled at that, knowing that he just wants to keep her safe. "We both know that as good a Pilot and Commander as Noin is she is not very good at negotiations. Besides, we need her here to coordinate all the forces we have for security." He was about to argue some more when Relena put a finger on his lips to stop him from speaking. "Heero, the decision has already been made. I want to go. You once asked me to believe in you. Now I need you to believe in me."

Relena saw his objections crumble before her determination and she kissed him once more before exiting the door and making her way to the shuttle that would take her to the Citadel.

* * *

Peacemillion and her two escorts arrived at their destination, a spot near the edge of one of the ward arms, and turned until their ships are parallel with the Citadel. Then, one of the MS bays on Peacemillion opened. What came out is an Alliance Assault shuttle, being escorted by a blue and white Alliance Navy Taurus Suit and a black and white Space Fortress Defense Taurus Suit, both of which had been engaged in the defense of Shanxi. And last, but definitely not least, came Wing Zero, which took the lead in the protective triangle formation. All the Mobile Suits were in flight mode to make their journey quicker, sacrificing maneuverability for speed. The formation made their way along the ward arm to their designated landing bay at the presidium.

But unnoticed to the Citadel Species, a hatch had opened on the back of Peacemillion near the engines. Out of the hatch came Deathscythe, with its wings folded down and the stealth field activated, a deactivated Beam Scythe in the right hand. Once clear of the ship, Duo turned on the active camouflage, turning the Gundam near invisible to the naked eye.

So while the Assault shuttle and the three escorts got everyone's attention, Deathscythe made its way over to the back of the Presidium Tower with the secondary stealth engines, ready to act at a moment notice should the need arise.

After all, they don't really trust these Aliens.

* * *

Executor Pallin is waiting at the entrance to the landing bay that has been reserved for the Humans. He stood alongside Ambassador Suri as well as a mixed squad of C-Sec personnel, most assigned to keep the landing station safe and a quarter assigned to act as guards for the Ambassador when they come. He had received a full Military briefing from the three main Citadel Governments, so he knew to expect several very large robots to accompany the Ambassador. That's why they were given three landing stations instead of just one on the edge of the Presidium Ring, hence the need for the extra officers even though they more than likely can take care of themselves. The officers are there to keep people out, rather than keep the humans safe.

He didn't have to wait much longer as he could see the Human formation about 10 Km away. When they were 5 Km away, the lead mech accelerated ahead of the shuttle before transforming and landing heavily in the bay. Coming to its full height, Pallin could see the head of the blue, white and red mech scan everything in front of it, while holding a giant double barreled gun casually pointed at the floor. He didn't even want to think what kind of damage that thing could do if it wished to. Then the head turn down towards him. He had to fight the urge to fidget, something that Ambassador Suri failed to do. The mech continued to stare at him for what felt like hours before turning away, making him feel like he had been designated as insignificant. Well, even the entirety of C-Sec would have a hard time bringing down a moving building that was shooting at them, so he hoped those Asari Corvettes could make their micro jumps quick should these Humans turn hostile.

Two more heavy thumps brought him out of his thoughts. The other two Mechs had transformed and were now standing guard as the shuttle landed behind and to the right of the first Mech. About two minutes passed before the shuttle hatch opened. They must have been testing the atmosphere to make sure it wasn't dangerous for them. It was only then that Pallin noticed the weapons on the shuttle, showing what little faith these Humans had in the Citadel.

But now he had to focus on the beings walking down the shuttle ramp. Six walked out, all having the standard bipedal outline that most sentient species have for some reason. Slightly bigger than Asari, slightly shorter than Turians, each was dressed in black, holding Assault Rifles and wearing tactical gear, as well as an enclosed and polarized helmet. There wasn't a centimeter of these beings that was left open, meaning they are guards and very well armed ones at that. Four of them spread out while two stayed at the bottom of the ramp when the last being, the ambassador, stepped out of the interior of the shuttle and started to make their way to him, the two guards falling in step behind the ambassador.

That's when Pallin heard the hiss of depressurization and saw a hatch opening in the abdomen of the lead mech. What came out was another Human, dressed in all black but with a different uniform and helmet. The Human had what looked to be an assault rifle and was using a rope winch to get him down to floor level. By that time, the Ambassador and accompanying guards had reached the foot of the lead mech, and the Pilot had joined their formation in front and to the left of the Ambassador.

Their planning and execution is greatly appreciated by Pallin. The constant movements and introduction of new things kept everyone guessing. Had anyone attempted something during the landing, they would not have known who to target. By the time everything had settled, those Mechs would have had time to lock down where everyone is and make pre-emptive strikes while evacuating their VIP. Pallin understood and respected their moves, and now it was time to meet them in person.

The Ambassador and her (?) guards stopped roughly two meters in front of Pallin and waited. "Greetings, I am Executor Pallin, head of Citadel Security. My Job is to protect the Citadel and all of the Sentient beings aboard. You have been designated as a VIP by the Citadel Council. It is the duty of me and those under my command to guarantee your safety while you are here."

"I am Suri T'sen, Ambassador to the Systems Alliance for the Citadel Governments. I will be your guide to the Citadel and can answer any questions you have."

The Human Ambassador replied, "I am Relena Darlian, Ambassador to the Citadel Governments for the Human Systems Alliance."

Suri bowed to her. "If you follow me, I will take you to the Citadel Council." The Ambassador nodded her acceptance and Pallin stepped out of the way, letting the entourage move from the landing platform with the C-Sec officers providing an outer ring of security.

Pallin watched them go, glancing back at the Mechs once more before leaving to go back to his office at C-Sec Academy. He just prayed to the spirits that the Council doesn't do anything to make the Humans hostile.

* * *

The Council watched the Human Ambassador and her guards make their way through the Presidium from the small private alcove connected to the Council Chambers. Each was going through different sections of the Diplomatic Corps report they had all memorized.

For Tevos, she focused on the type of Government they have: _Current Government utilized by the Systems Alliance is Asari Republic style form of rule, with one executive leader and representatives elected by the people to voice their opinion. This type of government has risen and fallen numerous times throughout the history of the Humans. Human government currently has policy of Pacifism. Addendum: Human Government seems to be somewhat unstable. Recently had 3 changes or government in one year, going from Military Dictatorship to Monarchy style rule to Autocratic Control before changing to current Republic Democracy. Attempted coup one year later shows only fragile peace and stability have been established. Total Pacifism has been modified after attempted coup. Second Addendum: Government and public are heavily influenced and lead by a select few individuals. Whomever is sent_ **WILL** _have the full backing of the entire species, with either war or peace resting on their word alone. Treat Ambassador with respect and caution, any harm befalling the ambassador will result in war._

Vorex was thinking about their Military: _Current military is focused on these 'Mobile Suits', which have been used as the primary means of fighting for undetermined number of years. Unknown if infantry units have been phased out, but unlikely. Other armored vehicles are present but do not seem to have a large significance to outcome of battle. Mobile Suits have been adapted for use in Land, Air and Space, unknown if any are used for Sea going warfare. Most space battles have been fought with Mobile Suits, so ship to ship combat experience is most likely only theoretical at this point. Ships seem to be mainly used to transport Mobile Suits rather than fight themselves. Based on recordings and readings taken by the Slaver ships, a 1-1 correlation of Mobile Suits and Hierarchy Ships in space battle will result in a tie. A 1-1 fight between Hierarchy Ships and Human Ships will result in Hierarchy win due to better experience and tactics. Addendum: Based on same recordings, each human ship has 4-10 Mobile Suits. As such, Citadel Species will need 1.5-1 or 2-1 advantage for a decisive victory over Human forces in space. Planetary forces are unknown at this time, as limited readings were recorded from surviving dropships, but estimate that they are even more effective than Space Forces. Second Addendum: Attacking a space fortress may require a 3-1 or even 4-1 advantage, depending on if Human Navy is present. Human space fortress will require new strategies to counteract._

Eslein is focusing on their technology: _Current Element Zero tech is only about 7 years old, yet shows surprising amount of maturity, only slightly behind Council Species in certain areas and may even surpass in others (e.g. moving large space structures through FTL). Humans have advanced knowledge of Material Sciences and Mass production. Majority of Species live in space pre Element Zero discovery, showing mastery of construction of Space Based habitats. Based on readings and recordings of surviving slaver ships, energy weapons are implemented instead of Mass Effect weapons. ME shields are able to stop energy projectiles, theorized to be particle based weapons rather than true Direct Energy Weapons like lasers. Energy generation is also very advanced, as shown when defending space station fired extremely high output energy weapon, estimated to be the equivalent to Citadel plus Citadel Defense Fleet power generated for 1.25 months. Need direct samples of technology to discover how such things possible. Addendum: Based on working theories, Humans have advanced Nuclear Fusion generators. Recovering sample of working technology will give insight into other possible power generation sources that can be adapted for Citadel use._

Each councilor watched the Human procession through the Presidium from both the C-Sec and Media feeds. Though they were able to keep the Media and other civilians out of the Landing area, shutting down the Presidium outside of an emergency would not be possible. C-Sec is able to keep the civilians back thankfully, allowing the Humans to quickly walk to the Presidium Tower.

As the group entered the elevator, the Councilors convened one more time to go over exactly what they were planning to do. "Remember," Tevos said, "we are going to just go over the greetings and exchange pleasantries for the cameras. After the introductions the three of us, the Human Ambassador and Ambassador Suri will move to the small conference room for the real negotiations." Like the title says, it is a conference room that seats up to 8 individuals (Elcor not counting) similar to the one the Diplomatic Corp was using, just smaller. Also, the Corp would be watching the proceedings live through the security cameras from their conference room, providing feedback during breaks to the Councilors.

Vorex sighed in exasperation, "Tevos, we have gone through this over and over and over again. All three of us know what to do and what to say, and more importantly, what not to do and what not to say." Eslein couldn't help but nod in agreement. "But more importantly, are you sure the Batarian ambassador should even be a part of the meetings? I know reparations will come directly from them, but we hold all their assets in Council space, we could negotiate on behalf of the Hegemony."

Tevos looked at him strangely. "The Hegemony is responsible, everyone knows that. Do you really want to be in a position to have to negotiate for them?" Vorex had a sheepish look on his face when confronted with that logic. "We first need to assure them that the Batarians acted independently of the Citadel Government. Afterwards, we will bring the Batarians in for discussion of further reparations. After that, we will bring in the other associate species. We have a plan, it is too late to change it now." Tevos turned her attention to Eslein, "And speaking of Batarians, does the STG have anything important to tell us about their actions since the confrontation?"

Eslein shook her head, "No. After we informed them of the punitive actions the Council is taking against them, the Hegemon called for all the top leaders to meet in person on Karshan. Afterwards, they had left any electronic devices outside and completely sealed their chambers. Our spies have not been able to get close enough to plant a listening device in either the chamber or any of the Batarians that go inside, though they report that several dead bodies have been removed. Also, they keep using new Omni-tools to communicate with others. Even if we had the entirety of the STG monitor them we would be severely short on manpower. As such, our cyber warfare engineers are putting in place a worm on their communication hubs, as well as keyword algorithms on our monitoring servers." She shrugged, "It's a work in progress. Though we know they are moving some of their Fleet assets, most likely to attempt to cover up their losses. Unsure where to at the moment, but we should know in a few days."

Eslein stood up, the other two Councilors following her lead. "Let us make our way to the podiums, we do not wish to seem like bad hosts." Each exited the room and went to their respective places.

They did not have to wait long before the Human Delegation appeared. They entered the Council chamber, the C-Sec guards dispersing near the entrance, and stopped just short of the gap. The 'gap' in the Council room is not as big as commonly depicted in shows and movies. It is merely 2 meters wide with the Councilors podiums 1 meter above the petitioner stage. It seems bigger due to the camera angles and dramatic flair the entertainment industry is known for. Suri started the introductions, "Ambassador Relena, allow me to introduce you to the Citadel Council. Councilor Tevos is in the center, representative of the Asari Republic. Councilor Vorex is on the left, representative of the Turian Hierarchy. Councilor Eslein is on the right, representative of the Salarian Union. Councilors, I present to you Ambassador Relena Darlian of the Human Systems Alliance."

All three Councilors bowed their heads in respect and were please that Ambassador Darlian reciprocated their action. Tevos spoke first as usual, "Greetings Ambassador. On behalf of the Citadel Council and all associate species of the Citadel Government, I welcome you to the Citadel."

"On behalf of the Systems Alliance, I thank you for your generosity and courtesy. May we have a productive and enlightening meeting."

Tevos smiled. "I thank you for your words Ambassador. As we have a no doubt long meeting ahead of us, we have prepared a room better suited for such things. If it is agreeable to you, Ambassador Suri will take you there and we can have our meeting in a more suitable environment."

Ambassador Relena was quiet for a few moments but in the end said "That is acceptable Councilors. I look forward to our future conference."

The Councilors and the Ambassador each made their own way out of the Chambers. The Media members present all started conversing with one another while the news Anchors started their own breakdown of the short meeting.

* * *

Relena walked into the Small Conference Room where the Councilors are already waiting for her. There was a small argument with the C-Sec officers about letting her personal bodyguards inside with her but they were vehemently told that they came with her or Relena didn't go in at all. Ambassador Suri told them to let them enter and the matter was dropped.

The Councilors greeted her and they all sat down together. The two preventer guards waited by the door while Heero stood just behind her on the left. Ambassador Suri sat two chairs down on her right side, and the Councilors sat directly across from her.

"Councilors, I thank you for your hospitality. Let us get down to business shall we?" Usually Relena would start off with some small talk, but the lack of Media and the gravity of the situation forced her to become aggressive from the start. "A Planet Colony belonging to the Systems Alliance was assaulted unprovoked by a member of your government. The goal of the attack was to capture Humans in order to sell them in to Slavery. Please, explain to me why such a thing was allowed to happen." Relena made sure to not use a commanding or condescending tone but could not help some of the anger she felt about the attack from leaking through.

The Council for their part had an explanation ready and thoroughly explained the facts of the situation. From the illegal activation to the deployment of Suri, everything they knew from their investigations was told without any alterations. It took several hours, with Relena occasionally interrupting to ask questions. At the end of the explanation, Vorex stood up and said "On behalf of my Citadel Council and my own personal government, I apologize for our failure to carry out our duties, resulting in the unwarranted attack on your people."

Relena looked at him squarely "On behalf of the Systems Alliance, I hereby accept your apology. I also accept that the attack on our Colony is the result of a rogue member of one of your governments and not a sanctioned action taken by the Council as a whole." The last part was more or less agreed upon by the analysts of the Alliance. Everything they had copied from the destroyed ships and the Omni-tools of the prisoners had shown that this was an action taken by a single entity, not multiple governments working in concert. Also, interrogations of the prisoner they had matched everything that she was just told, minus the ones that were outright lying of course, but they weeded those interviews out after the Codex had been provided. Of course they also didn't initially trust the Codex, so they had Sergeant Francoise Pierre manually translate copies of the Codex taken from the prisoners Omni-tools from Asari to English while in Quarantine (which he is still in) and everything had matched (mostly, but the things that did not were things like changing prices of consumer goods, proving that there are different versions of the Codex). So unless there is a vast galaxy wide conspiracy against them (in which case their situation would not have changed) the Alliance decided to take them at their word.

Vorex sighed in relief before nodding to her and sitting back down. "Now that we have gone over the reasons your people were attacked, is there anything you wish to discuss before we continue?"

Relena only hesitated slightly before speaking. "Yes. I would like to discuss the fate of the 2,238 prisoners we captured."

The Councilors were taken aback, as they did not believe the topic would come up again until much later. "Certainly," said Tevos, "We can discuss that now. Would you rather we discuss this with the Hegemony ambassador?"

"No. If we release the prisoners to the Hegemony, they would no doubt be given lenient if non-existence sentences for their crimes. As such, the Systems Alliance is willing to release all prisoners to the Citadel Council at the conclusion of our negotiations." Honestly, the Alliance does not want them. That's not to say the Alliance does not have prisons, but housing and caring for an Alien population they only know the basics of would be a nightmare. So far, the prisoners have been sustained by eating the rations that they brought with them or could be salvaged from the wreckage, but that amount will run out soon. And the resources used to keep them imprisoned would be much better used elsewhere.

The three Councilors looked at each other momentarily before Vorex and Eslein gave wary nods to Tevos. "The Council is willing to accept that. Are there any conditions you have regarding their release?"

"Only that you have them tried in court as criminals and punish them as you see fit." Relena paused for a second here, "Also, do you currently have the one who planned and led the slave raid in custody?"

"Yes" said Eslein, "He, along with everyone else that left your system in their ships has been arrested and is awaiting trial."

"When do you expect his trial to be?"

Tevos pulled up her Omni-tool, causing Relena's guards to tense slightly, something the Council guards didn't miss. "Evidence is still being collected and processed, but I estimate between three and five months. The Judge overseeing the trial should announce the date sometime next week."

"I see." Relena thought for a few moments. "In that case, we reserve the right to demand he be turned over to our custody should the Systems Alliance deem his punishment insufficient." This was a sticking point during discussions at the Alliance Parliament. Some wanted to trade all the prisoners they had for the one prisoner they wanted, others just wanted the Aliens out of Alliance space, others didn't care as long as the punishment was just. In the end, they agreed on the compromise that they will demand he be transferred to the Alliance if the Citadel is too lenient. And even though things such as torture and the death penalty have been outlawed in the Alliance, their laws have yet to be updated in regards to Non-Human sentient species. As such, aliens in Alliance space have no more rights than would a talking dolphin. And until such laws are updated (which may happen soon), every alien prisoner they have could be used as a biological test subject and it would be perfectly legal (technically).

Tevos mulled the proposal over. "I agree to your request in regards to the Slaver leader, Jon'Anum." She glanced at the other two Councilors who nodded in agreement at her look. "With that out of the way, would you like to discuss reparations at this time or at a later date?"

"Now if that is agreeable for you?" At the questioning look, the Councilors agreed to her request. "Very well. Will you be negotiating on behalf of the Hegemony?"

"Goddess no," Tevos said, "I can summon the Batarian Ambassador here momentarily, he will be representing the Hegemony. In the meantime, would you like some refreshments?"

"Yes to both please." Relena said with a smile. The three before her were not her enemies. They were not her friends, but for the negotiations with the Batarians they would be her allies. Whether they remain so after the negotiations, that remains to be seen.

* * *

Duo is bored. He has been in Deathscythe for the last six hours, monitoring the negotiations through the helmet cams of the three guards, with Heero's being the one he paid attention to the most.

"Man, that guy doesn't know what he's getting into." Duo is referring to the Batarian Ambassador, who had shown up about an hour earlier and had been belligerent from the get go. Heh, Hilde and her big words are rubbing off on him.

When the Batarian first came in (from a different door to Relena's left) the first thing he did was scoff at the idea of meeting for reparations from his government. That was until the metal looking alien (he'll remember the names later) slammed his fist on the table and threatened "Your government is in enough trouble as is Ambassador. Do not exacerbate your trouble by refusing to answer for your crimes. For should you fail to reach an amicable agreement, the Council will determine what your government will pay, and I assure you it will make the earlier amount look like a rounding error." Duo had a feeling that Humans would get along with his species.

The 'refreshments' Relena was provided was just some cold water, but considering that some of the … Asair-aisar-sinara-well, the female human looking ones had some issues with the human food they were provided, water would be safe choice for now.

But for now, Relena was busy tearing the Batarian apart. He tried to insinuate that it was the Alliance that activated the Relay, and the Batarians were simply doing their part in making sure the law was upheld and punishing the lawbreakers. Relena shot him down, stating that even if they had opened the Relay, they are not under the jurisdiction of the Citadel, thereby they did not break any laws. She also stated they have confessions from high ranking prisoners, stating they had traveled through the Relay for the express purpose of capturing slaves. The Council intervened at this point and stated they have definite proof it was the Batarians that activated the Relay and to stop wasting time (though with more flowery words of course).

Relena then started making the demands for reparations. Rather than money, the Alliance had instead asked for refined resources, especially Element Zero (the Alliance still has trouble producing enough to meet demand). The Batarian was of course aghast at the amount and kept arguing that it was too much. Relena kept to her demands though, and it honestly felt like teeth pulling in order to get agreements from the Batarian. Something was wrong though. The Batarian kept looking at his Omni-tool before agreeing to any specific amount, and he kept stalling for some reason.

Relena had caught on to this pretty early into the negotiations, but had decided to call Draknor out on it now. "Ambassador Draknor, for what reason do you keep looking at your Omni-tool? You always open to the same page and seem to only pay attention to the clock." Even though the camera is in HD that little detail had escaped Duo. "I doubt you have up to the minute inventory of what your Government has in stock, nor do I believe the amounts I demand in reparations will bankrupt your people, nor do I believe you are in direct contact with your superiors, which would make your participation in this meeting superfluous. And combined with your earlier actions, I do believe you are stalling me for some reason."

The Council perked up at that declaration. The big eyed horned lizard (he'll remember the names later, honest) opened up its own Omni-tool and tapped out some commands. The purple female (honest, later) rounded on the Batarian. "Draknor, is what Ambassador Relena says true?"

Draknor was initially nervous. But with the realization that the reinforcements are almost in the system, he became emboldened and smug. "Well Councilors, since this 'Systems Alliance' feels the need to bring so much protection for their Ambassador, the Hegemon felt that the same amount of Protection would be necessary for me."

"That is a blatant lie ambassador" seethed Vorex, "As the Ambassador to a member species of the Citadel Government, you are automatically protected by the Citadel Defense Fleet as well as C-sec, which far outnumber any forces your Government would have possibly sent here without our notice. Now, what forces has your government brought to the Citadel without approval?"

Draknor became indignant, "The Hegemony is part of the mutual defense treaty of the Citadel Governments, we do not need to pronounce our intentions of moving ships to the Citadel."

"Except when you bring in more than five frigates, or three cruisers or a dreadnought" interrupted Eslein, "From the STG reports I know that you have moved 10 Frigates, 5 Cruisers and one of your remaining Dreadnoughts. Tell us Ambassador, is this the force the Hegemon has sent to the Citadel?"

Draknor had gone quiet at that. So Tevos asked again, "Ambassador, what forces are your government sending to the Citadel? Lack of answers can mean a declaration of war."

Draknor panicked at that. Though the Hegemony would put up a good fight (at least he believes so) there is no doubt that against the big 3 governments combined his people would lose. He didn't get a chance to answer as Vorex received a notification.

"It seems that we do not need to wait any longer. I have just received word from the Citadel Defense fleet that several Batarian Navy vessels have exited from the Relay. As we did not get a forewarning from any of our own assets, I can only assume they came directly from the Relay under the protection of the Hegemony."

Indeed, Duo's sensors told him that a group of ships had just exited the Relay. This was not surprising as there was a lot of traffic coming and going. However, combined with what he just overheard, he knew that they were in trouble. Luckily, Heero informed Peacemillion for him, allowing him to keep radio silence.

"This is Blue Falcon to Peacemillion. 16 Batarian Navy vessels, including one Dreadnought, have just entered Citadel Space. Code Caesar, say gain Code Casesar. Preparing to evacuate the Ambassador."

Heero and the other two guards moved to secure Relena for transport when they were stopped by their mission objective. Relena had raised a hand to Heero while staring at the Councilors. There was silence for a few moments before she spoke. "Councilors. When I was invited here, I was guaranteed safety for as long as I am your guest. Has my status changed?"

Tevos was quick to re-assure her that wasn't the case. "Of course not. With the forces they have brought, there is no way for them to possibly get past the Citadel Defense fleet. Even if the Hegemony deployed every vessel they had, the Defense Fleet would be able to hold them off long enough for reinforcements to come and defeat them. The safest place in the Galaxy is with the three of us."

Relena accepted her statement. "Thank you for your generosity. In that case, I will stay here with two of my Guards while Blue Falcon goes to bolster the defense of Peacemillion."

"Absolutely not" was Heero's immediate reply. Duo saw that coming before Relena finished talking. "I am not leaving you alone."

"The best way you can guard me right now is to prevent them from getting on to the station. The other two guards are more than enough to keep me safe for now." Relena turned to look at Heero and quirked her lips. "And besides, I have a God watching over me. And should anything happen, he can protect me until you get back."

' _Glad to be noticed and appreciated_ ' thought Duo. So he would keep playing his part while Heero goes off to do what he does best in Wing Zero. Duo could tell that Heero is conflicted, part of him wanting to stay by Relena while the other part states he is more powerful in Zero. Luckily, Noin cut in at that point.

"This is Fire to Blue Falcon. The Ambassador is correct, you will be doing much more good out here than in there. Her God will look over her for the time being as is the plan. I am moving Peacemillion and our escorts away from the Citadel and deploying our Beam Turrets, as well as prepping the Mobile Suits for launch. We need you out here stat."

Heero hesitated for a few beats more before replying. "Orders confirmed, Mission Updated. Returning to Wing Zero now."

Relena smiled at him before Heero turned to the Councilors. "I need to get back to our docking bay as fast as possible."

Vorex spoke first, "Go towards the elevators you came out of, I'll have someone from C-Sec take you by air car directly from the tower."

Heero nodded to him before leaving the room. Pushing his vid to the side, Duo brought up the stream from the remaining guards front and center. "Well," said Relena, "Why don't we put the negotiations on hold while this gets sorted out?"

The Councilors agreed to that, ignoring the indignation coming from the Batarian Ambassador as the Council Guards loomed over him as if he is a prisoner. They brought up a live video feed from the Defense fleet on one of the walls. Duo had a difficult time looking at the live pictures, but until he had it directly from Heero he'll have to make do for now. He has a feeling he doesn't want to miss this.

* * *

Before Relena had called out the Ambassador the shuttle guards were bored. They stayed vigilant though, as due their training and orders, making their rounds to ensure nothing would happen.

But a few minutes before the Batarians came through the Relay to the Citadel Wing Zero turned on. The shuttle guards know there is no one else in the Gundam so they radioed back to Peacemillion, afraid that someone on the Citadel had hacked their most powerful Mobile Suit. Those on the carrier were just as confused and went to get Colonel Noin, who had stepped out of the command center to personally get some refreshments.

Zero's eyes glowed briefly before it started turning in place. Once it faced away from the tower the large green sensor on its chest, the Search Eye, started blinking in rapid succession as it processed the incoming data.

The human guards were rightfully unsettled as none of them knew the full potential of the Zero system. The head guard decided to contact his superiors for instructions. "This is 2nd Lieutenant Kobayashi to Peacemillion. Wing Zero has started to move on its own, please advise."

There was no reply for several seconds. "This is Fire, say again. What was that about Wing Zero?"

The Lieutenant replied quickly, "It has turned on and moved on its own. Possibility that it has been hacked by the Aliens high."

"Doubtful, but I'll take that under advisement. Which direction is it facing?"

It took a few moments for the Lieutenant to get her bearings. "Zero is currently facing the Relay. Unknown what it is truly focusing on."

"Copy that Lieutenant, wait one."

On Peacemillion the command center was in a sort of controlled chaos, with Noin directing everything and everyone around her. "I want scanners at maximum, anything and everything people, make sure to pay close attention to the Relay. Have our two escorts prep their weapons and get their Taurus Suits ready to deploy. What is the status of our MS transports?"

A female officer shouted back, "Prepped and loaded. We just need the command and forty Serpent Suits will be deployed on the Citadel in under 90 seconds."

"Hold off for now but keep them ready to launch." She turned to the sensor officer, "Sensors, what have you got for me?"

"Nothing ma'am" the male officer stated not looking up from his screen, "nothing has changed, we have normal traffic moving around the system, the defense fleet has made no moves. As far as I can tell everything is – wait one." The officer typed in a series of commands on his console. Noin waited impatiently for any information he had. After what seemed like hours he finally said "A number of warships of Batarian make have just exited the Relay. They are heading for the Citadel."

Heero then contacted them on the emergency channel "This is Blue Falcon to Peacemillion. 16 Batarian Navy vessels, including one Dreadnought, have just entered Citadel Space. Code Caesar, say gain Code Caesar. Preparing to evacuate the Ambassador."

Noin acknowledge the code and ordered all forces under her command to be ready to fight anything and everything on their way home. But she was interrupted when Relena came onto the line and invoked her right of Diplomatic protection as extended by the Citadel Council. And as much as she wished otherwise, she knows that Relena is the safest where she currently, as she would be extremely vulnerable during her move from the Conference room to Peacemillion. The Council themselves have been honest and upfront about the situation, it's the Batarians she truly didn't trust.

As such, "This is Fire to Blue Falcon. The Ambassador is correct, you will be doing much more good out here than in there. Her God will look over her for the time being as is the plan. I am moving Peacemillion and our escorts away from the Citadel and deploying our Beam Turrets, as well as prepping the Mobile Suits for launch. We need you out here stat."

Noin knew Heero would follow orders and so had Peacemillion moved to be 100 Km to the side of the Citadel, the two escorts following. While moving, slots retracted along the surface of the ship, with Beam Turrets rising from the gaps. Unlike the current double turrets, each turret had four Rectangular Barrels spaced apart like the AA guns of old. They were installed within the last two years and are the best that the Systems Alliance produce. New ships starting in AC 204 would use these new Quad Turrets rather than the classic double turret, with older ships and stations being refitted starting in AC 205. Along with these Quad Turrets, a number of Beam Gatling Turrets appeared for anti-missile protection.

Noin then went to contact the shuttle guards. "Lt. Kobayashi, Blue Falcon is returning to your position to get Wing Zero. You, your men and the two Taurus Suits are to stay and guard the shuttle. This may get ugly soon to stay on your toes."

"This is Lt. Kobayashi, orders received and acknowledged."

And now they wait.

* * *

Heero jumped out of the car before it came to complete stop. When he had reached the elevators he had expected to have to ride the slow things all the way to ground level. Instead, Executor Palin had arrived in a C-Sec air car and told him to get in. Councilor Vorex had made good on his promise to have someone take him to the shuttle quickly, as they took only a quarter of the time it initially took to get to the Council Chamber.

He didn't stop to talk and instead ran towards Zero, who had already opened the cockpit door and lowered the pilot winch. Heero grabbed the hand and footholds and was inside the sealed cockpit in less than 10 seconds. Zero had already partially started itself, so the startup sequence took half the time it normally would have. Once complete, Heero pushed the controls forward, turning the thrusters on and taking off towards Peacemillion, changing to Neo Bird Mode just after Zero cleared the landing bay.

Zero pulled up the information that it had received from its own sensors and data collected by Peacemillion, transferring the knowledge directly into Heero's brain and calculating the optimal positon to be in. Once completed, Heero pushed the thrusters to full and made his way forward while activating the ME engines. Due to the way Wing Zero was built, as well as the Zero system itself, it had the smallest and least powerful Element Zero core of all the Gundams. To make up for that, there is a secondary core put inside the shield to provide a ME barrier on demand. This was done by removing the mechanical components that allowed the shield extend its tip like a jackhammer, as this was a rarely used feature.

Heero quickly made it to Peacemillion before passing the Carrier and stopping 20 Km in front, transforming out of flight mode. Ready to fight, he waited for the Batarians to make their move.

Instead, he received an incoming audio transmission. It is being broadcast in all frequencies, with the origin point being the largest ship the Citadel has. "This is Matriarch Lidanya of the Destiny Ascension, Admiral of the Citadel Defense Fleet. Batarian Military Vessels, you are not permitted to be here at this time. Go back through the Relay or be fired upon."

Zero processed that the Civilian vessels had given a very wide berth to the corridor of space between the Citadel and the Relay, not wanting to get caught in the crossfire. Also, there appeared to be no more traffic coming through the Relay. Good or bad, that remained to be seen.

"Batarian Military Vessels, this Matriarch Lidanya of the Destiny Ascension. Once again, you are not permitted to be here at this time. Go back through the Relay or be fired upon."

The Batarians ignored her demands and steadily made their way forwards. They are now halfway to the Citadel, with the projected trajectory heading straight for Peacemillion. They had their Frigates and Cruisers spread evenly all around the Dreadnought in the center

"Batarian Military Vessels, this is your last warning. You are-" she didn't get to finish her warning before one of the Batarian Cruisers to the left of the Dreadnought, either under orders or acting on its own, fired a round from its main gun at Peacemillion.

Heero didn't move, as Zero predicted the shot would miss the Mobile Suit and it did, streaking by and hitting Peacemillion's shields in the top right quadrant. Zero calculated that shot to be insufficient to deal any major damage to the shields.

Still, the uncalled for attack had to be answered. As such, Heero locked onto the Cruiser, charged up the Dual Buster Rifle and opened fire.

The beam took less than two second to strike the Cruiser, collapsing its shield immediately and obliterating it as well as two Frigates who were too close. Once the light died down there was nothing left but dust.

Silence hung for a few moments before Noin called him. "Blue Falcon, the Batarian Navy has once again unfairly attacked a Systems Alliance Space Vessel. You are to engage and destroy all enemy forces surrounding the Citadel."

There was no hesitation in his reply "Mission Accepted."

Heero pushed the controls forward and was rewarded with Zero going to full acceleration. This broke the Batarian vessels out of their stupor, and they proceeded to open fire on him with everything they had. Heero easily dodged the incoming fire and shot the Dual Buster Rifle at a group of four Frigates, destroying all of them easily. A cluster of torpedoes neared him and he casually shot them down with the Shoulder Vulcans, not even bothering to slow down.

The Dreadnought and remaining cruisers launched small fighters, but they are currently too far away to be an issue. Three Cruisers and a Frigate remained around the Dreadnought, so once he got to the distance Zero indicated, Heero reversed thrust and stopped all forward momentum. Splitting the Buster rifle in two, he aimed at different Cruisers, destroying both easily. The destruction of the Cruisers had the added bonus of greatly weakening the Dreadnoughts shields.

At this point the fighters launched had started to surround him. So Heero extended the split Buster Rifle out to both sides and fired, doing a 360 degree turn and destroying most of the squadrons thanks to Zero's predictions. One group of four was missed and they turned to make a head on assault, but a sustained burst from the Vulcans and they were dealt with.

Turning back to the remaining ships, the Gundam moved forward towards the Frigate near the Dreadnought, weaving through the reduced incoming fire. Rejoining the rifle into one weapon, Heero stored it behind the shield while removing a Beam Saber from the housing but not turning it on. Zero dodged a shot from the main gun of the Frigate before ramming into the ship with its shield, entering the vessel violently and gutting it from stem to stern along the length of the main barrel. Zero exited the rear of the ship just as it exploded and turned its attention on to the Cruiser. Going underneath the Dreadnought, who ineffectively attempted to shoot him down, Heero opened fire on the Cruiser with the Vulcans, greatly weakening the barrier before a slash from his now activated beam saber made it collapse. The Gundam travelled along the flank of the ship, repeatedly slashing with the beam saber. Once clear, a number of glowing gouges could be seen along the side of the Cruiser before internal explosions ripped the ship apart.

Zero turned towards the lonesome Dreadnought and opened fire with its Vulcans once more. Heero moved the Gundam until it was over the top of the ship, continuously firing the Vulcans until the shields were no more and the shots started destroying the ship plating. He stopped firing then and landed in front of where the Bridge is. Taking the Beam Saber, Heero thrust the tip directly into the command deck, piercing it as deep as possible. He then slashed left and right, ensuring that there are no survivors. At this point, Heero could have destroyed the Dreadnought in a number of ways but decided to make an example.

Pointing the Beam Saber downwards, the beam pierced the ship to its hilt before being turned onto the maximum setting. The Gundam then moved down the port side from top to bottom, before coming up the starboard side back to the top. Having successfully cut the ship in half, Heero deactivated the spent Beam Saber and put it back into its charging cradle, before reaching out with Zero and pushing the two halves of the ship apart. Once there was enough room for the Gundam to move through, Zero moved in between the two halves before exiting out the other side, stopping only when it was a good distance away and flipping over. Splitting the Dual Buster Rifle in two once more, each rifle targeted half of the ship, opening fire once they were charged up and destroying what was left of a once proud Dreadnought.

When the light from the explosion faded, Heero turned back towards the ships he had ignored up to this point. 3 Frigates and a Cruiser remained. They weren't even firing at him, instead pointing towards the Relay and charging their drives for a Micro FTL jump. Heero pointed the rejoined Buster Rifle at them and charged up a shot, before changing his target at the last second. Just as he fired, the remaining four ships went into FTL, appearing only several dozen Kilometers away from the Relay.

Exactly where Zero predicted they would be.

The crews of the doomed ships had only a moments respite before the Dual Buster shot caught up to them, piercing a Frigate before impacting the Cruiser. The explosion destroyed all four remaining ships and could easily be seen from the Citadel.

Heero lowered the Dual Buster Rifle and scanned the surrounding space. Zero was silent and content, pleased it had completed its assigned mission and once more fulfilled its purpose. Scans came back negative for anymore Batarian Vessels, so Heero opened a comm channel back to Peacemillion. "This is Blue Falcon to Fire, Secondary Mission Complete. Returning to Primary Mission."

With that, Zero transformed into the Neo-Bird mode and made its way back to the Citadel.

* * *

The Council is in complete silence. No words could describe what they had just witnessed. Though the Batarians are not masters of either ship design or space warfare, their Military is nothing to sneeze at. For a single unit to completely wipe out the equivalent of an enhanced patrol fleet, the Citadel forces would need an overwhelming amount of forces to accomplish the goal with no losses such as the humans had done.

The Batarian Ambassador is no better. Knowing the full extent of his government's losses up to now, Draknor knows that within a few weeks the Hegemony had lost a large portion of their military might. They would not get back up to strength for many, many years.

The silence was broken with the soft tap of an empty cup being put on the table. All eyes turned towards the Human Ambassador as she calmly rose from her seat. "Councilors, I believe that you have some much needed discussions to hold with my Batarian Counterpart. As such, I will be retiring to Peacemillion until we are ready to continue our conversation." She smiled at them, a sincere smile that held neither malice nor falsehoods. "I thank you for your hospitality and look forward to speaking with you again." With a hand on her heart, she bowed deeply to the three Councilors, nodded to Suri and completely ignored Draknor. With that, Relena turned around and left the Conference room, her guards falling into step behind her.

Once the doors closed, Relena spoke to her Guards without turning around. "Inform both Fire and Blue Falcon that I am on my way to the shuttle. I will be returning to Peacemillion shortly."

"Yes ma'am." The Guards didn't say or show it, but they are just as shaken as the Council are. They knew their commanding officer is skilled, and that Wing Zero is powerful, but to see the results first hand is an experience neither of them could possibly fathom. So instead they relayed the words of their VIP up the chain of command.

Relena's trip back to the shuttle was quick (apart from the elevator ride). Everywhere she went, her group was given a wide berth, as no one wanted to risk the ire of the human forces.

At the landing bay, the C-Sec officers had gone further back from their assigned area, mainly because Wing Zero had already returned by this point. So not wanting to make a bigger scene, Relena quickly entered the shuttle with her Guards. Without any fanfare, they lifted off and made their way to Peacemillion.

###########################

Two days have passed since Peacemillion arrived at the Citadel. It took most of that time to clean up the remains of the battle. No survivors were found amongst the debris.

The Humans remained on Peacemillion in a heightened state of alert. Deathscythe had returned several hours after Relena had, once the majority of the attention shifted away from the Human ships and onto the cleanup effort.

But now they were back on the Citadel, sitting in one of the viewing galleries overlooking the Council Chambers. Relena had been invited back to view firsthand what punishments the Council had decided to inflict on the Batarians for their 2nd unprovoked attack against humanity. The meeting is being broadcast live all across the Galaxy.

The chamber doors opened, allowing Ambassador Draknor to enter with two Spectres acting as his keepers. Once he reached the petitioners stage, Tevos started the meeting.

"Ambassador Draknor, you are here today to witness the judgement the Citadel Council has decided to pass upon the Hegemony."

Vorex is next. "Your government was warned that should you fail to meet our demands, we would enact a far harsher punishment upon your people."

Eslein finished. "Though unsaid, successful negotiations with the Systems Alliance, who were unjustly attacked by the Hegemony, would have been the first step to get back into the good graces of the Council."

Tevos spoke again. "Instead, the Hegemony decided to send an attack force to the Citadel to inflict damage upon the Systems Alliance Vessels here."

Vorex is up. "This illegal action is the tipping point. The Council has always dealt with the Hegemony in good faith, but that faith has been betrayed and trampled upon."

Now it is Eslein again. "As such, the Hegemony has given the Council no choice. Realize Ambassador that your people brought this upon yourselves."

The three Councilors paused then, to give the moment more gravitas and to ensure that everyone watching is paying attention. And then Tevos announced the decision.

"Effective immediately, the Batarian Hegemony is hereby expelled from the Citadel Government, nullifying any and all agREEMENTS BETWEEN THE CITADEL AND THE HEGEMONY." She had to start shouting at the end to be heard as those in the viewing gallery erupted at the news. The only two other species to ever be evicted from the Citadel were the Krogan and the Quarians.

"Quiet!" ordered Vorex, "Silence in the Council Chamber!" He had to repeat this line several times before it was followed. He nodded to Tevos to continue.

"As I was saying, with the Hegemony no longer being a part of the Citadel Government, any and all trade or defense agreements are hereby null and void. The Hegemony has two days to close down their embassy. They have the same amount of time to remove any Government Officials and any Navy Vessels from Citadel Space." The last part was redundant, seeing as the Council had ordered the forced removal of all Batarian Navy Vessels back to Batarian space after their attack on Peacemillion failed. "Any colonization rights granted to the Hegemony by the Citadel have also been rescinded. Any colonized worlds with a population of greater than or equal to 100,000 Batarians, not including slaves, may be kept. Any below that number will be forfeited to the Citadel within two months. Further expansion in Citadel Space will be a declaration of war." She stopped then, scanning the crowds, the guards, the press, and finally looking at Draknor. He had gone the Batarian equivalent of pale skinned at the news. Rightly so, for without access to Citadel Space, expansion for the Hegemony will be either not possible or inhibit ably expensive. Also, the Volus calculated their economy would shrink by at least 10% in the first year alone, with a Recession or Depression occurring within the next five years due to the loss of the Citadel Markets. "As to regards of Reparations to the Humans, we have received the requested total from the Human Ambassador. The Council has decided to agree to pay the full amount plus an extra 200%, with all funds to be taken out of the Hegemony Assets frozen in Council Space. Regarding the Hegemony Assets, after removal of the Reparations one quarter of all Assets will be returned to the Hegemony, with the rest remaining frozen until the return of the Hegemony to the Citadel Governments or a unanimous vote by the Council." Draknor couldn't look more defeated if he tried. Tevos wanted to pity him, but his government had perpetrated too many crimes and broken too many agreements to gain any sympathy from her. "Regaining standing to join the Citadel Governments is possible Ambassador, and your government knows what steps need to be taken. Spectres, take the Ambassador back to his Embassy."

The two Spectres roughly grabbed the Ambassadors arms and forced him to move. With the spectacle over, the three Councilors went to the press room to answer questions the media have and to provide details about their decision. With the announcement done, Relena stood to make her way back to Peacemillion when a familiar voice called out to her.

"Ambassador Relena, a moment of your time if you please." Turning to her left, Relena saw that Ambassador Suri is the one whom called out to her and is now approaching. "The Councilors would like to meet with you in about four hours to discuss future relations. They told me to ask if you are willing to wait on the Citadel until they are done with their answer and question session with the press."

"Why are we only getting to discussion about government relations now?" asked Relena.

"Well, it was originally going to happen after you and the Batarian Ambassador finished discussing reparations regarding the attack. However, the Hegemony sending an assault force to attack your people here was an unforeseen setback. As such, they had to halt any further discussions until after the Hegemony had been dealt with." Relena could see that happening.

"Very well. Am I free to explore the Citadel while I am waiting?"

"Yes. In fact, if you wish it I can be your guide while you wait for your meeting to begin."

Relena smiled "That sound wonderful Ambassador Suri. I shall take you up on your generosity."

Suri smiled back "It is no problem Ambassador Relena. The Council had asked me to do so, and even if they did not I would have volunteered for the task." Suri held one arm out to the side, showing Relena the way, "We do not have time to see the entirety of the Citadel of course, but I should be able to show you most of the Presidium ring."

The two Ambassadors walked side by side as they toured the Presidium, Relena listening attentively as Suri described what they saw and where they were going, even stopping by a small shop for a snack that Humans are capable of digesting. It took five hours before Suri was informed that the Council is ready to meet with Relena, during which time they had made it back to the Presidium tower on their journey.

Relena is in a relaxed mood when they started discussions on the possibility of Humanity joining the Citadel.

##################

Discussions about the Systems Alliance joining the Citadel went well. Over the course of two days, Relena met with representatives of all the different races (the Drell being represented by the Hanar), with the exception of the Krogan and Quarians. Ambassador Suri acted as mediator for Relena, and reported back to the Council the interactions and discussions that occurred. The Council themselves only met with Relena for several hours to go over the Benefits of joining as an associate species member, and then Relena went back to Arcturus to brief Parliament on what she had learned and all that had transpired.

She returned three weeks later on Peacemillion with the answer. Relena now stands in front of the Council, with the Galaxy tuned in to find out what the decision would be. Humanity is expected to join the Citadel, as all species have always joined. But commentators were quick to point out that due to their introduction being via way of a slave raid, they have good reason to reject the Council's offer.

"Greetings Councilors," stated Relena, "I have returned with the Systems Alliance decision in regards to joining the Citadel Governments. It is with a heavy heart that I must report to you that Humanity has decided to not join the Citadel."

The chamber broke out into loud conversations as everyone started discussing the surprising decision with their neighbors. The Council, though surprised, is able to keep a calm façade together. Once the noise died down Tevos spoke. "Are you sure Ambassador? Your people would lose much by remaining independent from the Citadel."

"Yes," replied Relena, "a species wide vote was held two weeks after I returned and provided all the information I had gathered. Over 80% of the respondents voted to stay independent. A vote was held in our Parliament two days later, and over 90% of the Representatives voted against joining the Citadel." Her face turned gentle, "Please understand, we are not against trade or formal relations, or even joining the Citadel at a later date. For now, we just wish to remain independent."

The Councilors glanced at each other before Vorex said, "Very well, the Council accepts the decision of the Systems Alliance. However, may we ask why your people overwhelmingly rejected the proposal to join the Citadel?"

"Of course Councilor, I am willing to explain." Relena straightened her posture and started the explanation. "As I said previously, the Systems Alliance wishes to remain independent. We have only left our Solar System within the last seven years. During that time, we have explored and expanded at our own pace, solving issues as they appeared. We feel that should Humanity join the Citadel, we would be restricted in our actions and abilities."

"But Ambassador," argued Eslein, "the laws we have in place have kept the Citadel Governments safe for the last several hundred years. They are not perfect, but they are the best we have after centuries of trial and error."

"I understand. However, they were mistakes made by your people, not ours. We believe in being able to experiment and make our own mistakes, forging our own path and determining the future of our species ourselves. This is only partially the reason, but it is an important point. "

The Council looked at each again, all of them out of words to say. Suddenly, Tevos realized something. "Ambassador, you said that being able to make your own choices is only part of the reason. What is the other part?" She asked in hopes of being able to convince the Humans to join the Citadel.

"The main reason has to do with your history and society." She raised a hand to forestall any arguments, "Please, let me finish before you interrupt. Going through your history, we have come across several instances and actions that go against what we Humans deem acceptable. It is understandable that each Species and government has done things in the past that are now currently unacceptable, but the fact that you let these actions continue has led us to …" she paused there, eyes becoming unfocused as Relena realized something. "…lose our hopes and ..."

The Councilors became apprehensive, as they did not know what was going on. "Ambassador?"

Relena looked back at them, but she was clearly not seeing them, instead focusing on something else. "The history of humanity is filled with conflict and strife. Fighting is in our very nature, we were always at war for one reason or another. Our eras of bloodshed and pain came to a head recently and through the loss of countless lives, humanity as a whole was able to put aside their differences and achieve peace. And one day, not long after we achieved what we so desperately desired, humanity found proof that they are not alone in this universe. Humans have always known this fact. From Gods and Demons, to Aliens and the Spirits, we have always known there are others out there, just waiting to be discovered. That there is some piece of evidence that proves the empty space above us holds more than we can ever see from our pale, blue dot. But when that discovery was made, when beings not of our planet had been found observing us in our distant past, our baser instincts made us afraid of the unknown. Fear of the dark made us rationalize the use of weapons we swore we would never use again. Through it all, humanity hoped that our actions would have been for nothing. That the darkness around us hides wonders instead of monsters. That the beings we would encounter are so grand, so just, so advanced that they would look upon our works and pity us for our irrationality. That they would join our people, hand in hand, to create a future neither of us could achieve on our own. Instead we found War. Slavery. Genocide. Stagnation. Oppression. We see in the galaxy all the things that make us hate ourselves celebrated. Tolerated. Justified. Ingrained. Accepted. And in the end, when all is said and done, we are left with nothing but our Shattered Dreams."

Silence pervaded the Council chamber. Relena blinked a few times and came to, seeming to just realize what she had said. The Ambassador opened her mouth to say something, anything – but couldn't.

Everything she said was true. There was nothing else to say. And that was the worst part of it all.

So she turned around and left, leaving the Chamber, the Citadel, and the Galaxy, in silence.

* * *

#

* * *

AN:

Hope it was worth the wait. Also, my AN's have way less editing than my chapters do. At this point, I said screw it, I'm done editing this thing, it's time to post.

Code Caesar, after Julius Caesar. I tried to find a Greek Mythology story about the host betraying the guest, but the closest I found was Odysseus in the Odyssey and the guests at his home, but that was the guests being disrespectful to the host. So, I chose Caesar.

Umm, I hope that Relena's last speech is as good as I hope it to be. I dunno, feels kind of half assed to me. Re-wrote large parts of it several times, and it's still nowhere near where I want it to be.

So yeah, Relena was always going to be the one going to the Citadel, if only because I planned for her to make this speech.

This chapter is the pivotal moment in the story. The entire story built up to here, and this chapter is going to be the base of everything that come afterwards. And I mean EVERYTHING. All 3 games build up from this one chapter, hence why it took 3 months to actually write (other than writers block and antipathy to writing sometimes).

Humans were never going to join the Citadel that was always my plan. But I wanted a good reason why. The Wing universe never really cared about technology (other than Mobile Suits), and there was never any mention of an economic downturn during the series. So Tech and Economy were never strong reasons to join or not join. So that left societal issues. For a species that turned to pacifism and getting along together kumbaya style, the thought of a government that has constant conflicts and ignored slavery for centuries would be troubling to join, much less take orders from.

So I see the species of the Citadel as representing different aspects of human society (or at least U.S. society). The Turians represent the military/veterans/police, the Asari are the rich snooty people that look down on everyone not them and control the system, the Salarians are the smart ones with weak bodies that think faster than others. The Hanar are the weird people that believe in a religion not commonly accepted, the Batarians are the ones we know do horrible things but we keep it out of our minds as we are not affected by them. Quarians are refugees/immigrants, just trying to make a better life for themselves and discriminated against. Krogan are the violent ones who we believe get what they deserve (justified or not). Drell are the strange people we know exist that are ninjas and assassins but don't come across on a day to day basis as there are so few of them. Volus are the fat bankers that can't really do anything by themselves and rely on others for physical protection. Elcor are the big slow moving brutes that everyone thinks is stupid for the way they act and talk. Vorcha are the thugs that think they're the best around (when they're really not) and Varren are dogs. So, it's easy for Humans to relate to them in some way, and I reflect that in the answer.

Honestly, if we meet a space faring race that still practices genocide and slavery, I think humanity as a whole would be disappointed.

There are three movie references in this chapter. Two is on purpose and one is accidental.

The first is by Relena saying 'I will go.' See Lord of the Rings, Council of Elrond when Frodo volunteers to go to Mount Doom. Yeah, tried to change it but anything else would just make it sound awkward.

The 2nd is by Duo. 'Oh goodness, look at my wrist' references Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, which answers the question of 'What happened to Doogie Howser?' Those of you who have seen it, sing along with me: "Stand back everyone / nothing here to see. / It's imminent danger / in the middle of it me / it's Captain Hammer here / hair blowing in the breeze. / The day needs my saving expertise!" The guy is literally a tool. Hah. Those of you who have never seen it, but like Joss Whedon/Musicals/Nathan Fillion/Neil Patrick Harris should watch it, it's magical.

Third reference is a name. Lt. Kobayashi. Trek fans should know this one. Kobayashi Meru? Look it up, it's too lengthy to get into here.

One last thing. The war ships I use are designed after the Frigates from Halo, minus the weird gap in the middle they have. Cruisers are just the Frigates but scaled up. Destroyers are wedged shape, basically the middle portion of Peacemillion minus the control tower. Dreadnoughts, well, I don't actually have a coherent design for them, so, yeah.

Let's get onto the Reviews:

Some people seem to have trouble seeing the forest for the trees. I'll leave it at that.

The Gundams are from the Anime rather than from EW, mainly because I like their designs better. For example, Sand Rock had a kickass color scheme, looking at it made you think of a Middle Eastern Sheik. For EW, his color scheme was too close to Heavy Arms. That's what I liked about the original Gundams, each Gundam was unique and had a specific look. Sand Rock is Middle Eastern/North African in appearance. Heavy Arms is Red to signify he shoots a lot. Deathscythe is black because it's stealthy. Nataku/Shenlong looks like a green Dragon, which fits Wufei's Chinese aesthetic and Dragon motif. And 01 looks like a Gundam … yeah. But, if you like the EW versions better, go for it. Who am I to judge which ones you like better.

Speaking of the Gundams, can anyone tell me what Sand Rock is designed for? I know it's supposed to be for close quarters, but so are Deathscythe and Nataku and both are much more useful than Sand Rock is. 01 is supposed fly in, blow away the main resistance in 3 shots and then do cleanup with the beam saber and fly out again. Heavy Arms is supposed to unleash a bullet hell barrage on the enemies and then leave. Deathscythe is supposed to sneak in close with his cloaking abilities, wreak havoc and then sneak out. Nataku is supposed to show off Wufei's martial arts skill (though how being good at martial arts translates to controlling a giant machine with skill is lost on me. If that were true, MMA fighters would also be expert tank commanders and aerial dogfighters). Sand Rock though, seems to be designed to require support from other Mobile Suits from the get go. I mean, it doesn't have any kind of ranged weapons (other than the two missiles in the shoulders), nor does it move very fast to close distances (EW version gave it more powerful boosters to fix this issue). It can throw the Heat Shotels, but how does he find them again after the Mobile Suits they hit are destroyed? They're going to fly off somewhere, and that leaves Sand Rock defenseless. I have ideas on how to improve his Gundam in the next chapter (oh, Quatre is going to be in the next chapter) but his original design leaves a lot to be desired. And don't say it was designed to work with the other Gundams from the beginning as each Gundam is supposed to work separately, they didn't even know of the existence of other Gundams initially. Unless of course, he was supposed to work with the Maguanac Corp from the beginning, which means they intentionally made his Gundam weak to require the support of other Mobile Suits. Well, that got ranty.

Ah, there is going to be a Cerberus. I'm going to include an Omake in the last chapter that's from the 2nd game. It will explain how Cerberus came to be (and it's not from the preventers). There's also 2 Omake down below, also from the 2nd game.

I classify a Dreadnought based on the size and toughness. The main gun doesn't actually go the entire length of the ship.

The Kinetic Barriers reacted to the Beam part of the Beam Saber, not the shaft it was holding. And before anyone says that it shouldn't actually hold him back like that, if Beam Sabers can't have a physical pushback on the device that generates the beam, then how do Beam Saber battles work?

So, Suri has a larger role here than I originally planned (not that I planned most of this mind you), so yeah, she will be in the other stories. I'm actually glad the readers like Suri. And Gorvon. Gorvon is how I would write Wrex just weaker, less cynical and more morally ambiguous. Suri is how Liara would be, but with more experience and maturity, as well as a less domineering mother. She also has an expanded role, as several reviewers pointed out her usefulness. So those are my Beta versions of those characters. As for Rina, she was the audience surrogate, asking the questions people would be thinking while reading the story.

Thanks Wolfund, Francois is Sgt. Pierre's first name now.

Now we get to the big one: Sending Relena to the Citadel. What sets Gundam Wing apart from the other Gundam series is the large number of strong female lead characters. Une, Noin, Catherine, Dorothy, Sally, Relena, each and every one of them are strong in their own way. They also play a more significant role other than 'moral support' or 'bridge bunny'.

Noin is known to be one of the best MS pilots around, with Zechs saying she intentionally did worse during the academy years so that Zechs would look better. She can hold her own as well as any of the Gundam Pilots, and she is only using a slightly modified Taurus, not a specialized suit like Tallgeese. The only negative I have against her is what she wore while on Peacemillion. WTF is that cowboy outfit? Does that thing have tassels on the front and back? Why? You're in Zero G, that stuff would get in the way all the time. She was so classy and dignified before that.

Une was 2nd in command to Treize and convinced the Colonies to abandon the Gundams and work with the Romefeller foundation, and then saved Treize from the Libra canon and commanded the earth forces during the final battle. Now she is in command of the Preventers.

Catherine is a non-combatant, but helped Trowa recover from his amnesia as well as talking him out of the self destruction of Heavy Arms.

Dorothy was the Romefeller foundation spy in the Sanc Kingdom as well as Relena's keeper while she was temporarily Queen of the World. Later, she commanded ALL the mobile dolls during the final battle.

Sally was a major in the Alliance military, a Guerilla fighter against OZ, found two Gundams hidden on Earth, attempted to destroy Sand Rock while it was being rebuilt by OZ and supported the Pilots from Peacemillion, as well as being the one to discover that X-18999 is the base of operations for Mariemaia's army. Also, she rescued all the hostages on the Colony by herself.

And finally Relena. Relena Darlian/Peacecraft. Now she is a rarity in TV/Anime/Movies. She is a strong female character, who is NOT an action babe. And she is a strong character. People tend to forget that due to her naivety about pacifism. There's a reason all the other main characters follow her. The strength of her convictions and belief in making the world better pull others to her (see how Duke Dermails plan to user her as a puppet backfired on him). And others thinking she should not/could not do something doesn't stop her from accomplishing her goals. Remember: Mariemaia's coup didn't fail because the Gundam fighters showed up. They lost at the end, they got into the fight knowing they would lose. It didn't stop because Heero blew up the Presidential palace (BTW, are there mountains near Brussels? I visited there over 10 years ago for an afternoon, so I don't actually know the terrain around Brussels too well, or Belgium in general. I always thought Belgium is a pretty flat country). Heero destroyed the bunker but didn't kill anyone inside (he sure as hell destroyed all the Serpent suits outside though, and if he destroyed the bunker properly it would have stopped the Coup [maybe]). The Coup ended when Relena literally slapped some sense into Mariemaia, and then shattered when Dekim shot Mariemaia. And the reason she was kidnapped in the first place was so that they could use her influence in keeping people in line. Keep that in mind, as she has been noted as to having the strongest Character of anyone in the AC universe. She may be OOC somewhat in this chapter, but I wrote her as someone who has matured greatly over the past 7 years, and is still a force to be reckoned with. /End Rant.

Whew, that went on longer than it should have. Added another 2k words just then. And the chapter is 20k words already.

That should be it. Onto the Omakes.

* * *

Omake #1 (Or why movie nights should not be had the day before a mission). Takes place during ME2.

Shepard's squad moved forward into cover. Kasumi, Thane, Jacob and Samara stayed on the Normandy as a backup, just in case things go south. Collectors hit another colony, and the Commander arrived just as they started to put the colonists into pods.

Their cover started taking a lot of hits, and just as the Commander popped up to shoot back, a white armored being rushed forward in a berserker rage yelling "WITNESS ME BATTLEMASTER! HAHAHAHAHA, WITNESS!" and fell upon a group of Collectors, alternating between shooting them and clubbing them with his shotgun.

Before Shepard could yell at the young Krogan, a particle gun wielding collector hit the Commanders shield. Ducking back into cover, the N7 was about to order someone to take out the drone when there was the sound of a customized Sniper rifle firing, a flanged voice speaking up just as the Collector was killed.

"I shoot, I scope, I shoot again!" Garrus put words to action as he headshot another Collector attempting to shoot Grunt. Shepard moved forward again to a better position. Grunt had ended his charge and was now catching his breath next to Shepard. But before the commander could chastise the youngest squad member, a young woman wrapped up in Biotic energy and not much else surged past yelling "OH WHAT A DAY! WHAT A LOVELY DAY!" as she used her Biotics to rip apart four drones and cause an explosion.

Zaeed watched this from the left flank, face unimpressed as he said "Bah, Mediocre!" before popping up and spraying two Collectors with his Assault Rifle.

Shepard didn't get to say anything before Legion informed the Commander on the radio "This unit will flank from the right, Shiny and Chrome."

"That doesn't even make any sense!" Shepard yelled as the Geth unit moved off. Shepard popped up and killed another three drones before the fourth was taken out by a Biotic Warp.

"Remember me?" said a smug Australian accent. Just as Shepard was about to move forward, an explosion knocked the resurrected human away. Lookup up at the sky, the view was blocked by a one horned Salarian appearing and saying "Come with me if you want to live."

This confused the Commander, "Wait, does that make me Sarah Connor? If so, are you the terminator or Kyle-" "MOVE" yelled Mordin as he grabbed Shepard's armor and moved the human back into cover. Shepard took a moment to get some air back while Mordin looked around the battlefield. Seeing something of interest, the Scientist looked at Shepard and said "I'll be back!" in a heavy accent before leaving.

"WE HAVEN'T EVEN WATCHED THAT MOVIE YET!" yelled the Commander in frustration, "This is the last time we have a movie night before an important mission."

* * *

That was fun. Onto something a bit darker.

* * *

Omake #2 (I felt that the confrontation between Garrus and Sidonis was lacking. As such, I have rewritten it here with a little help from The Joker [Heath Ledger Joker, not the Pilot Joker]).

"Shepard, C-Sec presence is too heavy I can't take the shot. Move Sidonis for now, I'll contact you when I'm close."

Shepard didn't reply to the message and instead said "Sidonis, we're too exposed here. We need to move, now."

"What?" asked the Turian as Shepard took him by the arm to get him to move. "What do you mean too exposed, what's going on?"

"I've come to warn you that Garrus knows where you are. Aria wants to keep you alive for some reason." Using Aria's name was a gamble. Hopefully it wouldn't get back to her, and if it does, she hopefully doesn't mind Shepard using her name like this.

Once Sidonis heard who is after him he quickly agreed to follow Shepard. They walked around for a few minutes until Garrus got back on the radio. "Shepard, sending you the location to take Sidonis to. It's nearby and empty."

The Commanders Omni-tool lit up, a map appearing with the location Garrus appointed.

"What's that?" asked Sidonis.

"It's where my contact says to meet. He'll get you off the Citadel."

The two made their way over to the meeting spot, which turned out to be a multi-species bathroom. The two quickly entered, Shepard staying just inside the door while the Turian went in and checked all the stalls, only to see that they are empty.

"Where's your contact human?" he asked nervously, checking the stalls again. Just as he reached the end, the door to the bathroom locked and he heard a voice that caused him to freeze.

"Hello Sidonis."

Garrus de-cloaked next to the sinks while looking at the mirrors, ignoring the object of his wrath for now. Normally he wouldn't even have a cloaking device, but managed to talk Kasumi into lending a spare she had just for today.

Sidonis slowly unfroze and turned to face his former leader. "Garrus."

"Been a while, hasn't it." Garrus pulled a knife out of a sheath with his left hand and started examining it. "Recognize the knife? It belonged to Ripper. You remember him right? I never understood why a Quarian wanted to specialize in hand to hand combat, but I never asked as he was good at what he did. He made this knife himself you know. It's a heat knife, able to get hot enough to melt the toughest armor." Garrus demonstrated by turning the knife on and it quickly became red, almost white hot. "He died taking on four Eclipse Troopers. I was able to recover his body and this knife, which he told me to keep with his last breathe. Now, being a long range specialist, I never understood why some people liked getting near their enemies before killing them. I always reveled in the amount of skill it takes to line up a tricky head shot, the calculations and quiet control needed to take down someone at range. Now though" he chuckled darkly, "I think I get it." Garrus turned to face the traitor, eyes blazing with all the hate he had kept inside. "Sometimes, you just want to see them die up close."

Garrus stalked towards Sidonis, who had backed up to the bathroom wall and was trying to sink into it. "Garrus, let me explain, I – " Garrus didn't wait as he reached up and grabbed Sidonis by the collar, slamming him face first against one of the walls before turning the traitor around.

"Erash. Monteague. Mierin. Grundan Krul. Melenis. Ripper. Sensat. Vortash. Butler. Weaver. Remember them? Ten good men women who wanted to make a difference. Ten beings who came together to make life better for the people around them. Ten soldiers, partners, squad mates, brothers and sisters in arms whom you betrayed. Ten friends who you sold out. Tell me Sidonis, how much did they offer you to betray ten people who would have died to save you." Garrus brought the knife up to the other Turians face. "Was it worth it?"

"Please, Garrus, I had no choice!" Sidonis moved his head as far away from the knife as possible.

"Was it worth it?" Garrus asked as he slowly moved the knife closer.

"Don't do this!" Sidonis pleaded desperately.

At that, Garrus actually did stop. He moved the knife down and away from Sidonis. But before Sidonis could even exhale in relief, Garrus reached up with his right hand and grabbed his face bandages. Without any hesitation, Garrus ripped off the bandages on his own face, exposing the scarred and burned flesh underneath.

Sidonis recoiled at the sight and quickly closed his eyes, turning to look away.

"Look at me." Commanded Garrus. Sidonis shook his head and kept his eyes closed. "I said look at me." Sidonis only shook his head again. Garrus once more grabbed his collar. "Open your eyes and look at me, or I will use this knife to cook them inside your head."

Sidonis slowly opened his eyes and turned towards Garrus. The wound was still raw, patches of it were still bleeding even after all the time spent healing under the bandages.

"Do you want to know how I got these scars? Hmmm?" the sniper asked conversationally, "It was a gift, you see, from a Blue Suns gunship. Shot a missile at me. I survived thanks to the Commander. You know, the human Commander I served under? I told all of you stories about our adventures together, you remember right? Well, turns out the Commander wasn't as dead as I thought, came and saved me. I would have been overrun by all the mercs that came to kill me otherwise, just like the people you betrayed." Garrus brought the knife up again. "Speaking of humans, they have a famous saying you know. It's in one of their religious texts I think. It goes something like 'an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a life for a life.'" The knife moved closer. "And right now, you owe me ten lives and a scar. As you only have one life yourself, let's start with the scar and work our way from there, what do you say?"

The knife slowly moved closer and closer. Just before it met flesh, when the heat it radiated started to make Sidonis whimper, a hand came up and grabbed his arm.

"Garrus stop."

* * *

Well, that escalated quickly.

For those who didn't realize it, the Omakes are gender neutral for Commander Shepard, which is a lot more difficult than you would think. Man or Woman, that's completely up to you.

ETA on next chapter: Unknown. Chapter 4 was weak, I agree, and that's because I rushed it and didn't want to do it. Chapter 6, the last chapter of the prologue, will come when it is ready. Say, 2-3 months, no promises.

For those interested, I have a one shot regarding Jason Brody from Far Cry 3. It's on my profile page. Why Far Cry 3 and not 4? Because I only played 3, I never played 4.

BTW, I found Dogmeat. Then I lost him again. Then I installed a Mod that allows me to call up any of my companions using console commands. Right now I'm wondering if I should install the True Storms mod. Don't you just love PC gaming.


	6. Chapter 6 - Towards a New Beginning

After Colony 203 – Humanity shocked the Galaxy by being the first species to reject joining the Citadel. But when they explained their reasons, they left the Galaxy in silence. Now, Humanity must set itself on a new path, one with an unclear end, and unknown dangers.

Gundam Wing: Shattered Dreams. Chapter 6 - Towards a new beginning

Relena stood in the observation Deck of Peacemillion once more. Looking at a slowly shrinking Citadel, Relena could only sigh softly to herself. Sensing her mood, Heero asked "What's wrong Relena?"

Relena glanced back at him before turning back towards the Citadel. "I'm not sure I made the right decision Heero." The Ambassador crosses her hands in front of her stomach. "Do you think we should have joined them? Should humanity have made a different choice? Do you believe we were too rash or unnecessarily harsh? Did we come off as having a 'holier than thou' attitude? I just can't help but feel worried for the future."

Heero moved forward and hugs Relena from behind. She leans back into the lithe but muscular frame, taking comfort in his warmth and strength. Heero spoke, "Humans have always been stubborn. All you did was present Humanity's will to the Galaxy. We have chosen our path. All that's left to do is see where it takes us, for good or ill."

The two stayed entwined together, looking at the Citadel until it became too small to see and Peacemillion left the system.

#########################

Though shocked by Humanity's rejection, the Citadel Species still had outstanding issues that needed to be resolved with the Systems Alliance.

The first call of business is the return of the Alien prisoners. This had been previously set up between Matriarch Lidanya and Noin while Relena met with the Citadel Ambassadors. So three days after the departure of Peacemillion through Relay 314, the prisoner transport ships left Shanxi.

Onboard one of the many ships, which are converted Mobile Suit transports, is Rickis Soltun, current acting commander of the Eclipse forces. The Salarian wasn't the 2nd in command. He wasn't the 3rd, 4th or even 5th in line. But command fell to him when everyone above him died and the others deferred to him or basically lost it.

Still, things could be worse. The humans had unknowingly done all the prisoners a favor by releasing them to the Citadel Governments. Had they been released to the Hegemony, the prisoners would have become Slaves as both a punishment and to offset the loss of credits incurred by their failed raid. The worst the Citadel would do is keep them locked up for the majority of their remaining years.

Feeling the tell-tale energy discharge that comes from using a Mass Relay, Rickis prepared himself to move. Indeed, it only took only about half an hour before a Turian voice came through the speakers. "Prisoners, this is Major Tarsis of the Turian Hierarchy. You will momentarily be transferred to Citadel prisoner transport ships which will take all of you to a holding facility until your trial. Do not resist, the Citadel has given my men and I clearance to use lethal force if we deem it necessary and I promise you: I deem it necessary. Follow the commands, do not resist and you will live."

Rickis snorted. Typical Turian, shoot first and ask questions later. Still, no use in making their bad situation worse. Rickis ordered the surviving Eclipse members to not do anything stupid, like start a fight or try to escape. Even though they had no need to follow his orders, they still did so with the professionalism that separates Eclipse from other mercenary bands.

Soon enough their cell doors opened, allowing the prisoners to leave. Looking the down the corridor the prisoners spotted two Human soldiers, flanked by two of their smaller Mechs, who ordered the prisoners to approach in two lines. The prisoners all followed the order and are shortly moved to the more familiar Citadel designed ships. For many of them, this would not be the first time they entered a Turian prison ship, so they knew where to go without being reminded by some of the overzealous Turian guards.

Settling down in his cell with the others, Rickis figured it would take three to four days to get to their destination. So it came as a surprise when one day later, one of the Turian guards approached his cell and said "Rickis Soltun. Come with me."

Though confused, Rickis didn't talk back or ask any questions simply approaching the door and stepping out when it is unlocked. The Turian cuffed him before roughly grabbing the Salarians arm and forcefully leading him through the ship. From memory, Rickis concluded that he is being lead to the interrogation room. He is proven correct about a minute later. The Merc figured that they would try to do some of the interrogation during the trip to save time processing everyone later on.

But he was proven wrong when the Guard simply opened the door and pushed him in, locking Rickis inside alone.

Or not, as it turned out.

"Rickis Soltun. Former STG and current acting commander of the Eclipse forces that illegally accessed Relay 314."

Turning towards the voice, Rickis sees a Salarian in STG armor with several data pads stacked neatly in front of him sitting at the only table in the room. Now Rickis understood the situation, and exactly what it entailed.

"From the tensing and relaxing of your muscles, as well as widening of the eyes and unclenching of your fists, may I assume correctly that you know why I am here?" the STG agent asked.

Rickis did indeed know, but needed confirmation before proceeding. "Perhaps."

The agent did the equivalent of a smirk, motioning for Rickis to sit across from him. Rickis did so, still on edge.

"As you have been, ahem, guests of the Galaxy's newest discovered citizens, you rightly assume that I am here to ask you questions regarding them. I will be interviewing many prisoners in the following months, but I thought it best to start with an ex-STG agent before moving on to the more… mentally deficient prisoners."

Rickis snorted in annoyance and amusement. "You know, and you know that I know you know, that I did not fight directly against the Humans, or interact with them that much. Why start with me?"

"Just because you did not fight them does not mean you did not learn anything from them. And your STG training would have allowed you to remember things that others would forget."

"True," the prisoner mused, "so what will I be getting out of this?"

The agent gave him an annoyed look. "We will bump you to the front of the sentencing que and make sure to note that you were cooperative. After that, I leave it up to whomever prosecutes your case."

Rickis frowned. Something's missing, he would need more data. "What kind of information do you want?"

"Just your observations on their technology, what kind of tactics you encountered, things like that."

Rickis's frown merely grew. "Why would you need that information? When the Humans joined the Citadel they would have shared that information whether they wanted to or not. The only reason you would need to ask me those questions would be if…. they….." Rickis became wide eyed, "they didn't join the Citadel?" he asks in shock.

The Agent didn't reply but that was all the answer Rickis needed. The prisoner broke out in laughter at that. Oh, the Agent made a mistake coming to him first. The other prisoners would have spilled their guts out without a second thought at the initial offer. Now though, Rickis knows the information he has is worth more than early sentencing and a reliance on the good will of a slaver hating civilian. And should he spread that knowledge to the rest of the prisoners, the Agent will have a much harder time and make more compromises than he would like. Now Rickis has leverage.

Finished laughing, Rickis once more addressed the Agent. "Now that I have all the data, I ask again; what's in it for me?"

The Agent pursed his lips and looked at Rickis with narrowed eyes before stating "The STG will have whatever sentence you have reduced."

"Not good enough. I want guarantees that my men and I will not get the death penalty."

The Citadel wasn't planning on killing them anyways. "Agreed."

"And I want any sentence for me and my men reduced by one half across the board."

"Not possible," the Agent dismissed, "We can reduce it by 10%."

"You're going to need to do better than that."

The Agent pursed his lips again. "We can reduce it by 15%, no more than that."

"Make it 20% and you have a deal."

"Only if you guarantee that this deal does not spread past your men and that they cooperate fully with us. If the STG hears even a rumor of this agreement all of your sentences automatically double. Triple, in your case. Do we have an agreement?"

"I want this in writing." The Agent nodded, causing Rickis to smirk. "Then I agree. What does the STG want to know about these newcomers?"

The Agent started the recording device. "Tell me about their Mobile Suits."

############################

The day of the prisoner swap, another Human ship crossed Relay 314, making its way to the Citadel. A Systems Alliance Cruiser, it holds the Human Ambassador to the Citadel and a special negotiator.

Arriving at its destination, the Cruiser pulls up alongside the Citadel before a gold colored shuttle is deployed from one of the hanger bays.

Palin and Suri are once again awaiting the Human Ambassador, though the number of C-Sec personnel are kept to a minimum.

The Systems Alliance shuttle soon touches down. Instead of fully armored soldiers, four Preventers Agents are assigned to guard the Ambassador and Special negotiator.

The Negotiator leads the way over to Palin. Stopping before them, the blond Negotiator introduces herself. "Greetings. I am Dorothy Catalonia-Winner, Special Negotiator for the Systems Alliance. With me is Anita Goyle, who will be our Ambassador to the Citadel."

"I am Executor Palin, in charge of the security forces on the Citadel."

"I am Ambassador Suri, the Citadel Ambassador." This is a new position opened within the past two weeks. It was decided that a permanent Diplomatic Corps is needed, one that could act on behalf of the Citadel Council rather than the individual governments. They would also be in charge of first contact with any new species discovered, rather than relying on whomever the Citadel could scrounge up at the last moment. "I understand the reason Ambassador Goyle is here, but may I know the reason you have also arrived Madam Dorothy?"

"No problem Ambassador Suri," Dorothy smoothly replies, "While Ambassador Goyle here will stay on this station long term, I am here merely to discuss our initial relations. Travel, Military cooperation, trade with the individual species, so forth and so on. I will be here, at most, six months though I believe I should be done within 3."

"I understand. Please, follow me, I will show you to where the Council has set aside a building for your embassy. Will the rest of your staff be arriving today?" asks Suri as she leads them towards their destination.

"Yes. They will arrive today to begin planning for the embassy layout, and will start work tomorrow while Ambassador Goyle and I meet with the other Species Ambassadors."

Gathered in the Private Chambers, the Council looks at the Systems Alliance representative through the station security cameras.

Tevos turns to Eslein, ignoring the live stream for now. "So Eslein, when will the STG start interviewing the returned prisoners?"

Urrip responded for Eslein. "They already started the interview process yesterday. And before you ask Vorex, we kept the deal to a 20% reduction while letting them think they had the upper hand." Indeed, the Council was willing to reduce their time by half but the prisoners failed to understand how much the Citadel needed that information.

Vorex nodded. "Very well. Now, I trust you did not install any recording devices in areas that they would find objectionable in their embassy have you?"

Eslein shook her head. "The main lobby, the bathroom, what we hope will be their break room and a few other places. None in the individual offices at the moment, but it should be easy to do so if it becomes necessary." She pauses. "I'm surprised you and your government are not more aggressive against them, considering that they are an unknown power outside of our control."

Vorex snorted. "As much as the rest of the galaxy sees us as warmongers, the current Primarch and I do not wish to see our Sons and Daughters die for nothing. These newcomers have done nothing wrong and are free to do what they wish amongst themselves. Also…" he pauses, before hesitantly saying "what their first Ambassador said before she left resonated with a great many of our people."

This is something that none of them have talked about. The words spoken aloud by Ambassador Darlian shook many of them to their core. This in turn had many individuals questioning themselves and their actions. Many didn't like what they found. And though it is slow, for the first time in centuries the Citadel is changing. Small things. Quiet things. But they are happening.

"Regardless," says Tevos, changing the subject, "let's move on to our next item of business. Eslein, has the STG determined why the Batarians attacked the Human convoy?"

"Yes. According to our spies, the Hegemon had no intention of attacking the Humans again." She received questioning looks from the other two. "He hoped to either provoke a response from the Human forces or intimidate the Ambassador with their presence. It was a gamble, and not a very well thought out one."

"I figured it would be something like that" says Vorex. "If they truly had meant to attack the Humans here all of the ships would have fired in a coordinated strike. It was probably some upstart ship Captain disobeying orders. That's what happens when you promote people based on bribes rather than merit."

"I trust the STG is monitoring the situation?" Tevos states more than asks.

"Or Course." Replies Eslein.

"Very well. On to the next matter of business."

######################

A week passed on the station, during which time the Systems Alliance finished setting up their embassy. Mobile Suits themselves are not allowed on the Citadel, though exceptions are made for the Mini Dolls. Two are stationed at the entrance, one behind the receptionist and several more are dispersed throughout the embassy at key locations.

Security is handled mainly by the Marines, though five Preventers agents are on hand.

As a gesture or welcome, and because it is more practical, the Citadel Governments meet with the Special Ambassador at the Human Embassy.

The Turians are first.

"Unfortunately Ambassador Tirdus, we will not be exporting our Mobile Suit technology in the near future."

"Are you sure Ambassador Catalonia? The Turian Hierarchy will pay very well for one of your base model Mobile Suits."

"Yes. Using Mobile Suits is a contentious matter for our own people. I'm afraid selling them for a profit would be something our Government would not allow, at least for the short term."

"Very well. What about the beam weaponry you use?"

* * *

Then the Asari.

"We will, of course, be welcome to the exchange of tourism and culture. As of right now, the Systems Alliance is in the design phase for a space station on our side of the Shanxi Relay to facilitate travel and trade with the Citadel Governments. Construction should be complete within four months."

* * *

Then the Salarians.

"As I told Ambassador Tirdus, we will not be selling Beam Weaponry or Mobile Suits in the foreseeable future."

"What about your power generation technology?"

"That is allowed, though within reason of course. What is the power output you are looking for?"

* * *

Then the Volus.

"Our main import would most likely be Element Zero, though our needs have been met for the next five years thanks to the Reparations. Of course, raw materials are never looked down upon."

" _shhhhck…_ What do you expect to be your main exports?"

"That, my dear Ambassador, depends entirely on what you need."

* * *

Then the Elcor.

"If you are not interested in trading goods, what type of trade are you looking for?"

"With excitement: We are interested in cultural and entertainment products such as Movies and Books. With great anticipation: Do you have any literature that I may sample?"

"Well, I have a copy of Hamlet I could give you. It is a story written by one of the best playwrights in the history of humanity. Are you interested in it Ambassador?"

* * *

Finally, it's time for the Hanar.

"As I informed the Asari Ambassador, we will start accepting tourist within the next four months, once our main trading station is complete. Your um, priests, are of course welcome to visit."

"This one is thankful for your acceptance Ambassador."

"Not at all. Is there anything else?"

"This one has one more question. This one wonders, would your Space Colonies be for sale?"

Dorothy blinks at the question. This is the first time that someone has been interested in buying one of their Space Colonies. "…Yes Ambassador, I believe my Government would be willing to allow the sale of Space Colonies to the Citadel species."

The Hanar flashes several colors in excitement. "What is the average population that one of your Space Colonies can hold? What kind of weather patterns can be controlled inside the colony? What types of environments can be created?"

Dorothy observes the Hanar Ambassador before answering honestly. "Our Space Colony generally holds between Fifteen and Twenty Two Million humans, though it requires a minimum of Eight Million to generate enough taxes in order to pay for the upkeep of any given Colony. Weather patterns are limited to either sunny, light to medium rainfall or light to medium snowfall. We can recreate most climates, though I am unsure if we can make one that can be filled completely with water."

"This one does not wish to fill a Space Colony with water. This one wonders if you can create a Space Colony with a specific climate in mind."

* * *

"They want what?" asks Anita Goyle.

"A Space Colony modeled after a dry desert environment." Says Dorothy, sipping her tea. The two are meeting in Anita's official office. "Apparently, they have a Client Race living on their home world that originates from a desert planet. The Hanar home world is a very humid water planet. This causes the client race to get sick due to the vastly different nature of their evolutionary physiology."

"Why can't the client race go back to their own home world then?" Anita is drinking coffee, her eighth cup that day. Setting up a permanent office on short notice is taking its toll on her.

"Their home world is no longer habitable. It is only through the actions of the Hanar that there are any Drell left alive in the Galaxy. Simply put, there is no other place for them to go."

Anita sighs, rubbing her forehead. Another thing to take care of. "I'll contact Arcturus tomorrow. Do you have a report I can send along with the request?"

"I already sent it to your terminal."

"Thank you Lady Winner, I will go over it tonight." Anita refills her cup of coffee again.

* * *

 **October – AC 203, Arcturus Station**

The Cabinet members of the Systems Alliance are currently meeting, discussing the request of the Hanar Ambassador.

"Ladies and Gentleman, what are your thoughts?" asks the President.

"As long as the Weapons are stripped, I do not see any danger in selling a Space Colony to the Citadel Government." States the Minister of Defense.

"But what about our technology? Once they get a hold of one of our Space Colonies they could reverse engineer it and build their own!" exclaims the Minister of Technology.

"Oh please," says the Trade Minister dismissively, "If you're afraid of them reverse engineering everything we make what purpose is there in trading with them at all. At most, they learn of our construction techniques or what type of materials we use, but they still lack the experience we have in actually building and maintaining the Space Colonies." The Minister looks up and down the table. "Think about it. We sell them the Colony then we sell them the service of upkeep and maintenance."

"We're not trying to gouge them" chastises the Culture Minister. "Still though, I am for this deal. It will help cement our standing with one of our neighbors and show the Galaxy that we are both compassionate and generous."

"And once we show how dependable and durable our Colonies are" says the Economic Minister, "more and more species would be interested in purchasing Space Colonies." The Minister looks up and down the table. "You all know that orders for new Space Colonies have drastically reduced since the Systems Alliance has started Planet Based Colonies. This can help revitalize the industry. Think about it: the Citadel Species will be running out of space on Garden Worlds within the next century at their current estimates. They will no doubt try to build their own Space Colonies eventually, but if we start now we can corner the market permanently."

Murmurs of agreement float above the gathered Ministers. The President asks another question. "Foreign Minister Relena. You are the only one here who has met with the Aliens personally. What are your thoughts on this matter?"

Relena folds her hand on the table in front of her. "I believe that we should go ahead and sell them a Colony. Doing so shows our compassion to the plight of others, as well as demonstrate our engineering capabilities."

"Very well" replies the President. "Are we all in agreement?"

* * *

"Good news Ambassador" says Dorothy. She is visiting the Hanar in their Embassy. "I have received word that Parliament has agreed to the export of Space Colonies to the Citadel Governments."

"This one is joyful at this news. This one wonders, how soon can we expect delivery on the Space Colony?"

"The timing of your request is actually quite fortuitous Ambassador. A new Space Colony has just been finished for delivery to the Shanxi system. The original Colonist have agreed to wait for another Colony to be built while this one is sold to the Hanar." Catherine pulls out a data pad, handing it to her Hanar counterpart. "This is a breakdown of what is on the Colony, as well as the price to purchase said Colony and the cost of moving it from Human Space to Hanar Space. The company in charge of building the Colony has agreed to sell it at cost. The company moving the Colony has agreed to move it at cost as well. If you agree to the purchase within the next four days we can have it in place next month."

The Hanar scrolls through before getting to the price. It shimmers in surprise when it sees the total. "Are you sure this number is correct?"

"Yes. We can work out a payment system. Terms are 20% down payment with annual payments to be made for the next twenty years."

The Hanar turns to Dorothy and looks (?) at her with surprise. "This one's Government can pay for this. It is no more than the startup cost of a new Planetary Colony. This one's government has already put aside funds for such a day that a suitable planet has been found for the Drell."

Dorothy smiles. "That's good to hear Ambassador. How soon would you like the Colony delivered?"

* * *

 **November AC 203,** **Council Side of Relay 314**

It took quite a while to work out the details of transferring such a large object in Council Space. Today is the day that is agreed upon, a Turian fleet ready to help guard the Colony during the transfer through Citadel Space.

News agencies have ships in the system where Relay 314 is with plans to follow the transfer from beginning to end, which would take roughly 2-3 weeks.

One of those ships belong to the Citadel Reporters Network, the largest source of news for the Citadel Species. Inside their ship sits Lorissa Nassus, their head journalist. Sitting across from Lorissa is Dorothy Catalonia-Winner. This will be her final day in Citadel Space and had agreed to the interview before transferring all her duties to Anita Goyle.

The Salarian tech signals that they are about to go live. Lorissa looks into the camera, waiting until the light turns green. "Thank you Corvex. I am reporting live from the Citadel side of Relay 314. With me now is Ambassador Winner, who will be travelling back to Systems Alliance Space after the transfer of the Space Colony is complete. Ambassador Winner, thank you for taking time to sit down with us."

"No problem Lorissa." Dorothy smiles back.

Lorissa leans forward, "So tell me Ambassador, why has the Systems Alliance agreed to the sale of a Space Colony? The Human Government has barred the sale of most items to the Citadel Species."

Dorothy demurely responds. "First, let me clarify that the Systems Alliance has not barred many items for sale to the Citadel Species. Most items barred from sale are weapons used for war. As such, we viewed the sale of a Space Colony as a means to show we are not opposed to the sale of large scale civilian goods. We have only started relations with the Citadel after all. Once the trust between our people have increased, the sale of Mobile Suits and Beam weaponry may be permitted. Second, once our main trading outpost on the other side of the Relay is complete trade will start to flow more evenly between our people. The Systems Alliance will allow a Task Force of Citadel Ships and inspectors so that a redundant station does not need to exist on this side of the Relay."

"Your Government is going to secede control of the Relay to the Citadel?" asks Lorissa, shocked.

"Yes" Dorothy replies easily. "In exchange, all trade between our two Governments will go through our station in our space. This way, both Governments will be able to control the trade process on a somewhat even footing."

"I see" replies Lorissa, a thoughtful look upon her face. "Thank you for explaining that Ambassador. Are there any plans in the works to sell more Space Colonies?"

"As of right now, no other Governments or private entities have contacted us in regards to the purchase of a Colony. They are taking a 'wait and see' approach to determine the benefits of running a Space Colony themselves." Says Dorothy.

"Understandable. Now, how long do you estimate it will take before this trade process begins?" is the next question.

"Construction on the trade station is roughly half way done, though a few complications have popped up due to some resource shortages." Answers the Ambassador. "Still, the superstructure should be complete this month. The interior buildings and life support systems will be installed next with testing and systems check complete by the end of our calendar year. The new year is when we expect the Trade Station to be open."

The Omni-tool Lorissa uses lights up. She reads the notification before turning back to Dorothy. "I have just received an update that the Colony will be transitioning through the Relay soon. Would you mind staying with me while we witness this event?"

"I would be glad to." Replied Dorothy, smiling. They both turn behind them, the wall revealing itself to be a floor to ceiling video screen.

The Image, being broadcast live across the Galaxy, shows four Systems Alliance Frigates exiting the Relay, followed by two Cruisers. All six ships immediately make a 90 degree turn. Lorissa opens a notice on her Omni-tool again. "The Systems Alliance are warning all ships to move out of the Relay exit vector. The corridor of space they say to vacate spans half the system!" she says in surprise.

"Yes" replies Dorothy, "As you know, travel through a Relay is not exactly precise. Few are able to exit less than 2000 Km from the Relay itself. Moving an object the size of a Space Colony through a Relay, the drift sometimes ends up being several Astronomical Units in length."

Any more words are silenced as the Mass Relay gets brighter. The spinning increases, the light becoming more intense before the Space Colony appears, one half AU from the Relay.

Lorissa can feel her mouth opening at what she had witnessed. Goddess, it was like moving the Citadel! She understood that the Space Colony would be quite large in order to fit millions but the sheer scale of it is mind boggling!

The Human ships move to take their positions alongside the Colony, with the Turian ships moving moments after them. They slowly made their way to the edge of the system, towards the next adjoining Relay.

Lorissa simply watches, astounded, until her Omni-tool activates again. Breaking out of her shock she reads the message, which is from the producers, telling her to end the segment. Composing herself, the reporter turns to the camera. "The Space Colony purchased by the Hanar has just transitioned into Citadel Space. This is Lorissa Nassus, Citadel News, signing off. Back to you Corvex."

* * *

 **February AC 204, Approaching Relay 314**

Today is the day the Citadel Species will enter formally enter Systems Alliance Space. Supporting a core team of around sixty members, about a thousand Aliens representing the Citadel Governments will call the new Trading station home, not including the Defense Fleet that will be permanently attached.

Vortus Trantus is the leader of the, for lack of a better word, expedition into Human Space. He, like everyone else, has been amazed at the Human's ability to move an object 20 Km in diameter at FTL speeds. He's amazed they were able to build it at all, the amount of resources is mind boggling.

Now he stands on the viewing deck of a passenger ship, waiting. " _This is the Captain speaking, we have just received the go ahead from the Systems Alliance. All personnel, prepare for Relay Jump._ "

Everyone got up to get a better view through the wide windows of the viewing deck. Once through the Relay, all the ships made way towards the trading station, situated halfway between the systems star and the Relay.

As they neared their destination Vortus can see a Titan station nearby, there to protect the trading station from attacks. This is due to the trading station not having any weapons emplacements on it. Vortus marvels at the Space Fortress, hoping that one day the Hierarchy can get ahold of one though that is unlikely.

Turning his attention to the unarmed station, he is interrupted by a Salarian to the right screaming "THAT'S NOT POSSIBLE!" near his ear. Vortus clapped his talons to his head, turning to glare at the Salarian who is busy pushing buttons on his Omni-tool.

"Selorus," Vortus says. The Salarian keeps ignoring him however. So Vortus simply grabbed the being by the arm and turned him to face the Turian. "For what reason did you have to exclaim so loudly that you nearly deafened me."

"Apologies sir" says Selorus. Selorus is part of the security contingent, the part that reports back to the STG and Citadel Intelligence. Selorus looks back at his Omni-tool readouts. "I've tapped in to the ships sensors and used them to check the size of the space stations. The Titan station matches the reports we received, 4 Km long and 1 Km in diameter. However, the trading station is 40 Km long and 11 Km in diameter." The beings around him stop and stare at that statement. Vortus turns back towards the Trading Station, and he can see it getting larger and larger. Up close, it truly looks like the Citadel. Although the Citadel Ward Arms are open to space, the human station is completely enclosed and it is rotating noticeably faster than the Citadel does. A large door protected by a mass effect field opens up, allowing the passenger ship to enter.

Landing in the hanger, Vortus exits the ship at the head of the gathered beings. Walking down a set of stairs he meets a human with long brown hair coming down in two ringlets. The Human smiles at him as she speaks. "Greetings, and welcome to Trading Station Prometheus. My name is Sally Po, Chief of Security for this station."

"I am Vortus Trantus, leader of the Representatives of the Citadel Species on this station."

"On behalf of the Systems Alliance, I hope that your stay here will be fruitful and enjoyable. Please follow me, the dock workers will bring the luggage to your living areas." They started making their way inside the station. "Our own Representative should have come, but he became sick just before leaving for this system. He is currently on Shanxi receiving medical support and should be on the station within the week. Until then, you may contact me with any questions you may have."

He nodded and they made their way to a transit station in silence. The Train fit a little over half the beings present, with the 2nd half getting into another train just behind the first one. The Train exited the docks and Vortus is able to see the entirety of the station. The inner surface is divided into three 'wards', a strip of land used as a park separating each district from each other. A metal cylinder connects both ends of the station in the center, with arms jutting out every quarter length, with one arm each connecting to each ward.

The Sky Tram is around a quarter of the height towards the center column, their train moving at a brisk pace to the destination. Sally comes over the intercom "Greetings, my name is Sally Po, head of Security for Trading Station Prometheus. You are on one of the three main Sky Tram lines used to move people from the docks to one of the districts. The structure running the length of the Trading Station is called the Central Hub, or Central for short, where life support, power generation and police headquarters are located. We will arrive at our stop shortly, after which a short walk will bring us to your destination. From there, you will each be receiving a data packet with a map of the station, as well as housing and other general information. On behalf of the Systems Alliance, I hope you have a pleasant stay."

The rest of the ride is spent admiring the view outside their windows. It took less than ten minutes before the Tram arrived at their destination, a large Subway Station that is below surface level. They exited the Tram and followed Sally up a set of escalators to street level. The city feels like a ghost town as their district, the Citadel District, is completely devoid of life, being empty until their arrival. The building they would be working at is just across the street from the entrance of the subway station.

Crossing an elevated pedestrian crossing they entered the building, where Sally started distributing the maps and information. Vortus stayed with Sally, letting the others spread out and get to work preparing their offices. Less than five minutes after their arrival the second half of his staff arrived, led by a human with long black hair tied back in a braid. "Representative Vortus," says Sally, "Allow me to introduce you to my partner, Wufei Chang. He is in command of the Preventers forces here, though he ultimately still answers to me." Vortus and Wufei shook hands before Vortus got back to organizing his people.

Once his people dispersed throughout the building, the Turian turned to two human leaders who are talking to their own people about something. He approaches them as they finish their discussion, turning to him as he speaks. "I thank you for your assistance in getting my people settled. What can you tell me in regards to the security arrangements?" It is a complicated arrangement, and he needed some clarifications before making his own decisions.

"Certainly" says Sally, clearing her throat. "This district, the Citadel District, is under your jurisdiction. Your own police force will patrol this section, independent of the other two Districts. Of course, your own laws cannot be directly in conflict with our own and the Preventers can override any orders given to the police forces of any District, but for the most part you will be able to enforce your laws on your own terms. This Station also has no gun emplacements, relying on the surrounding Fleet and Titan Station to protect its inhabitants. Finally, while armed Agents and Police are here, no Mobile Suits are on the station itself." The last statement is a lie. Wufei has Nataku hidden on the side facing away from the Relay, just in case things go pear shaped.

Vortus nods, though internally is taken aback at how much freedom his forces are given. They might as well be their own independent nation. "What about the third District?"

Wufei answered this time. "The third District is the main Business District. It will be administered and policed by the Systems Alliance, though Citadel Forces are welcome to patrol alongside our officers. However, any Citadel Forces operating in the Business District will answer to the Systems Alliance, not the Citadel."

Vortus nods again. Their terms are just another reminder that he is no longer in Citadel Space. And though they are very generous with allowing the Citadel to police their own people, any time Humans are involved the Systems Alliance will definitely want to be in charge. Still, it's a limitation he can work around.

They spent another hour exploring the building before the Citadel Representatives decided to retire for the day. They trekked across the street to the Subway Station and took the trains to their assigned living quarters.

###########################

 **July AC 204, Attican Traverse**

Captain Raalo'tal Vas Shenpa is currently cursing his luck while trying to escape Batarian Slavers. Once the Batarians had been evicted from Citadel Space, the Migrant Fleet had been taking advantage of Star Systems claimed by the Batarians but not actually settled to mine for resources. It had been good going so far, up until the four Frigate class Slaver ships came into the system and gave chase.

"Engineering, what's the ship status!" Being a resource exploration vessel his ship did not have any weapons, not even a mining laser that could be jury-rigged into a weapon. As such, evasion and escape is their only option, though something that may not be possible.

"Engines at 80% and dropping Captain!" Comes the reply, the female engineer clamping down another valve. The ship shook once more as another ME round glanced off their barriers. "Shields are down to below 20%. We are still FTL capable, though based on the readings from the Batarian ships they could easily catch up with us."

"Keep doing what you can." Raalo'tal turns to the Navigator. "What are our options here?"

"Not many." He replies, typing rapidly on his console. "As engineering said, any jump we make will be easily matched by the ships pursuing us. The only option we have at the moment is to go through the other Relay in this system."

Raalo'tal shook in his seat once more. "Doesn't that one lead towards Human Space?" Everyone in the Migrant Fleet had heard of the Humans, if for nothing else that they are the reason the Batarians are no longer part of the Citadel Species. There are already have over 5 million Citadel Species members on Prometheus Station, with more going each day to explore new opportunities. The few Quarians that went there on their Pilgrimage are met with the usual discrimination from the Citadel Species, though the Humans are more welcoming.

"No other choice Captain. Unless some kind of friendly patrol fleet comes by the only option we have is to go through that Relay."

Seeing as he had no choice, "Helm, go towards the new Relay, transition as soon as you can. Afterwards, immediately go FTL towards the nearest Star, the radiation will hopefully throw off any readings from our pursuers."

The Helmsman didn't acknowledge the order, busy as he was in making as difficult a target as possible for the Batarians. A tense ten minutes passed, the ship shuddering every now and then, before they reached the Relay and are able to transition to the other side. The helmsman oriented towards the system star and immediately went into FTL.

Raalo'tal allowed himself to relax, which is when a large tremor went through the ship before they dropped back into normal space as the lights from the control panels all went dark, red emergency lighting coming on. He felt gravity release its hold, the harness straps the only thing keeping him in the seat.

"Engineering, what happened!" No response from his console. Then his Omni-Tool lit up.

"Captain, this is Engineering. Our Core just shut did a hard shut down. I'm trying to bring it back up but it's not looking good. From the looks of it, we'll need a dock to make the necessary fixes. All we have at the moment is emergency life support."

"Do what you can, but make it quick. Those slavers are right behind us."

"No promises." She disconnected, Raalo'tal turns to the bridge crew. "Anything?"

"No captain," replies the Sensor officer, slapping his dead console. "Until we get power back I may as well be looking at the wall for all that it will tell me."

With nothing else to do they waited in silence. After what seemed like an eternity the consoles slowly flickered back to life, but barely. "Captain?" says the voice of the chief Engineer, coming through his console this time, "I am able to get the backup power to turn on but we have less than one day worth available. I'm working on the getting the core back up but it looks like it cracked. I may be able to patch it but it will take more than a day to fix for sure."

"Understood. Thanks for the update." He let her get back to work. "Sensors, where are we at and what is our situation."

The Sensor officer tapped on his controls, some not responding correctly. "We are roughly 3 AU from the System Star. We are on the edge of an asteroid field, slowly drifting towards it at several hundred kilometers an hour." The console started to dim. "I can't use too much power right now, but there are roughly four planets including one gas giant. That's all I can tell you at this moment."

The Captain sighs in his seat. "Alright, everyone not needed at their station go to Engineering and see if the chief engineer needs any help. Otherwise, we just need to wait."

A few Quarians moved out of the Bridge but most stayed as most roles do not have redundant personnel. About an hour passed, with each minute passing raising the hopes that they had truly lost the Batarians.

The Sensor station beeped. "Captain!" yells the tech, "I have an incoming ship about the size of a Dreadnaught, coming from the area of the asteroid field. It's roughly 2 million Kilometers away."

"What?" exclaimed the Captain, "How could a ship that size avoid detection until they got so close?"

"They were hidden behind one of the large asteroids. With our lack of power I couldn't push enough into the Sensors without draining the rest of the ship."

"Have they noticed us?" he asks worriedly. Dead in the water, they are at the mercy of whoever found them.

"Most definitely. The ship is approaching and will be at our location shortly at their current acceleration. I don't detect any energy buildup though."

"Keep monitoring them for now." Raalo'tal turns to the communication tech. "Can we send and receive?"

"Yes Captain" replies the female Quarian, "We're getting nothing from them right now. I'll be ready should they attempt to contact us."

It took about an hour for unknown ship to reach them. Raalo'tal turns on the main display, further stressing their remaining power. The ship is in the shape of a large block: four round fuel pods are attached to the rear engines, while blocky constructs are attached to the main body, ending with what has to be the a small control bridge at the very front.

At 100 Km distance, the unknown ship stops before opening a hanger door. It disgorges three large bipedal robots who approach the Quarian ship. Two are colored different shades of brown and dark grey while the lead robot is colored black and white with gold highlights.

As the comms officer notifies them of an incoming signal, Raalo'tal prepares to introduce himself to the humans.

* * *

" _Unknown vessel, this is Sergeant Jaron of the Maganac Corps. You are encroaching on human territory, identify yourself or be fired upon."_

Truthfully speaking, this system has yet to be claimed by the Systems Alliance. ' _But then again that's what we are here for'_ thinks Quatre. He normally wouldn't be out on one of these Resource exploration trips but being cooped up in the office all the time grated on his nerves. With Dorothy back to take care of anything that comes up he decided to go with a small group of the Maganac Corps members to scout some systems in the Skyllian Verge. The ship they are using, named the _Battuta,_ is the same one Quatre used to chase down the Natural Resource Satellite used to send the Gundams into the sun. Four of the eight large Hydrogen fuel pods were removed. In their place are hangers, a barracks, a kitchen, shower facilities, a science lab, storage depots and a small manufacturing/repair shop. Retrofitting the ship with a Mass Effect core is expensive, so for now this is the only ship of this model type they have that is FTL capable, though newer ships are built with an ME engine in mind. The ship is also much slower in FTL due to it being one of the few retrofit ships attempted.

The _Battuta_ just finished the scans and was about to go back home when the unknown ship appeared, breaking down not too far from their position. Scans of the ship reveal it to be very old and un-armed, though visual inspections show it to have been damaged recently, most likely from pirates. After observing them for an hour, Quatre made the decision to approach them to try and discern their intentions.

They get a reply from the unknown ship in moments " _Sergeant Jaron of the Maganac Corps, I am Captain_ Raalo'tal _of the Starship Shenpa, member of the Migrant Fleet."_ This is a surprise for Quatre. Even though his company employs several Quarians on the Trade Station Prometheus, the Systems Alliance has not yet made formal contact with their government. " _We were attacked by pirates while scouting a nearby system for possible resources and was forced to make a blind jump through a relay to this system. Our ship has been damaged and is currently inoperable. I apologize for trespassing into your system, but I also request assistance until our ship is fixed."_

Jaron contacted Quatre on a private channel. " _Master Quatre, what are your orders?_ "

Dorothy would call him soft hearted for this. "Reply back and state that we will assist them with their repairs. Take your two Mobile Suits and –" his console beeped, warning of more incoming ships. Seven Frigates came through the Relay, designed with Batarian aesthetics.

" _Those bosh'tets_ " cursed Raalo'tal, _"I was wondering why they didn't immediately come after us. They must have waited for reinforcements since they knew that relay led to Human Space. Please,_ " Raalo'tal begged, " _help us and I will repay you in any way that I possibly can."_ '

"Sergeant Jaron," orders Quatre, "have the _Battuta_ launch the rest of the Mobile Suits onboard and rally to me. Inform Captain Raalo'tal that you and your partner will guard his ship. I will make sure the Batarians know they are not welcome here."

Quatre closed the communication window as the Batarians made their jump to the asteroid belt and the _Battuta_ launched three more Maganac Suits. When the Batarians re-appeared, Quatre wasn't even able to open up a radio channel before they started opening fire.

The three Mobile Suits immediately dodged. Quatre drew his two swords and activated the newly installed Tech Armor, glowing plates covering the chest and arms while the two Maganac Suits stayed near the Quarian ship and provide covering fire. With his mass lightened and shields up thanks to the ME core, Sand Rock accelerated towards the nearest ship, dodging the incoming fire with ease.

Once right next to the ship, Sand Rock slashed at the underbelly, scoring a deep gash in the armor and venting atmosphere, the enemy shields not even registering the sword as a threat. Howard has plans to remove the swords entirely and turn them into Omni-blades, but building a large scale blade constructor is proving to be more difficult than integrating the tech armor into Sand Rock. Besides, Quatre prefers having physical blades rather than an energy blade. Otherwise, he would have replaced the swords with beam sabers long ago.

Still, having physical blades does not hinder him right now as the Batarian ship is helpless against Sand Rock. Several more gashes are added to the first one before internal explosions destroy the Frigate. Accelerating towards another Slaver Ship, Quatre slashes downwards with both blades, cutting halfway through the Batarian ship and completely through the bridge, causing it to lose power.

Kicking away from the dead ship Quatre holds out the left arm, pointing the shield at a third Frigate. Beneath the shield, the mechanisms that are used to hold the swords for a pincer attack were removed and in their place are two shortened automatic beam rifles, put in place so that Sand Rock has a ranged attack option. He opens fire, quickly bringing down the shields and destroying the vessel before incoming fire from the other four ships force him to evade.

The attacking ships come under fire themselves from three Maganac Suits. With space at a premium on the Resource ship, the designers couldn't justify having more than six suits on board at any one time. Most times, the hangers hold only two suits. But with Quatre being on board they took no chances.

The three suits are able to overwhelm two of the remaining ships, destroying them while Quatre cuts another ship in two, causing the Frigate to explode in a blue fireball. The last Batarian Frigate turned tail and ran, not wanting to stick around and be destroyed. Though he didn't want to, Quatre couldn't let the enemy escape with data on how one of the Gundams worked. Using the improved thrusters, Sand Rock quickly caught up to the fleeing Frigate before it could make an FTL jump and thrust one of the swords in to the ship, carving a gash from stern to bow. The ship then exploded, having their core destabilized from the damage.

With the battle done, Quatre quickly made his way over to the _Battuta_ while Jaron and another Mobile Suit towed the damage Quarian vessel, as another two suits destroyed the crippled Batarian ship.

Once back in the hanger, Quatre quickly docked Sand Rock and got out, changing into his normal attire. Every member aboard the _Battuta_ is a member of the Maganac Corp so hiding his identity from them is not an issue. But for Aliens he just met? Lady Une would skin him alive, and would hopefully do so before Dorothy got to him.

* * *

For his part, Raalo'tal is too terrified of the humans to do anything that could be perceived as a threat. The crew watched in real time as a single large Mech, or Mobile Suit as the Humans called it, took down five Frigates on its own in less than ten minutes. The only comparable weapon the Citadel Species has capable of such a thing is a Dreadnought, one commanded by a veteran Captain with a seasoned crew. Even a Cruiser would be surrounded and destroyed when outnumbered seven to one, even if they were up against Frigates from two generations ago.

As the two of the large Mechs moved his ship over to the human ship, Raalo'tal started going over everything he knew about the Humans in order to increase the chances of survival. Unfortunately, he didn't know much more than rumors and hearsay so he would be going in mostly blind. It didn't take long for his ship to be right next to the human ship. He soon received a message from Sergeant Jaron, asking him to come aboard the Human vessel to talk to their leader.

Seeing as he doesn't really have a choice in the matter, Raalo'tal decides to go alone to meet with their Captain. Everyone else is needed to help repair their ship and they don't have any marines on board. He cycles out of the airlock and is greeted with one of the large Mechs holding out its hand. The Quarian gingerly steps on, the fingers closing gently around him before he is taken inside the large ship. Passing through the blue field stopping the atmosphere from escaping, Raalo'tal is set down on the floor near a human with blonde hair, wearing a white button up shirt and black pants.

"Greetings" says the Human with a smile, "My name is Quatre Raberba Winner and I am the owner of this vessel."

"Greetings Captain Quatre, I am Captain Raalo'Tai Vas Shenpa of the Quarian Fleet. I thank you for getting rid of those Batarian Slavers."

"It is no issue, but I am not the Captain of this ship, merely the owner." The smile dropped as he became serious. "I was informed that your ship is in need of repairs. What kind of damage did you sustain getting away from those Batarians?"

Raalo'Tai sighs, "From what my chief engineer told me our Mass Effect Core is damaged." Quatre can't help but wince. "We are not sure of the true damage our ship has taken, but it is most likely extensive. Any assistance you can provide for us is greatly appreciated."

Quatre rubs his chin in thought before motioning one of the engineers over. "We have a small repair shop on our ship that can manufacture some of the items you need, but from the sounds of things you would require a dry dock." Quatre introduces the engineer. "This is Samil, the head of our machine shop. Please inform him of what you need, and we will see if we can either make it or put something together. For now, if you are agreeable, I would tether your ship to mine while we return home. The return trip is around one week, during which time you and your crew would be allowed to stay on my ship as my guests. Once at port, you will be able to use one of my dry docks for free, though you will of course have to pay for your own parts."

Raalo'Tai is shocked at the offer. It is far better than anything he has ever heard of Quarians getting since their exile, so he knows there must be a catch. Unfortunately, he is not in any position to negotiate at the moment. He needs that dry dock. "I… thank you for your generosity. The Quarian Fleet will remember your kindness and will pay back in kind should your people be in the same position."

Quatre merely waved him off "It is no bother. My people will start anchoring your ship to ours. In the meantime, please start bringing your crew over to the _Battuta_."

Raalo'Tai nodded before getting on the radio. They would need to make sure their ship is as stable as it can be to survive the trip.

* * *

It took two weeks to make their way to the Human home station. The ETA had to be extended due to almost losing the Quarian ship several times to a weak connection or slower traveling due to the added mass. The Quarians spent the time getting to know the Humans better, trading stories and helping out where they could.

Once back at the resource station, the Quarians immediately started working to repair their ship. The machine shop on the _Battuta_ was able to make some of the smaller parts but anything intricate or larger than a suite case was not possible.

Four days after their arrival, the ship is about halfway repaired. The last major component still broken is the Mass Effect core, but that needed the other parts to be fixed first before they could even attempt to turn it on.

Raalo'Tai is on his break, sitting in one of the chairs on the observation deck looking out over the system they are in. The binary star system has a few rocky planets, two gas giants and a very large asteroid field that is currently being mined for resources. But none of that is what catches his attention. He is focusing on two large, rotating, human made object several kilometers away though still visible to the naked eye.

He has heard about the object these humans have made, even watched the footage of the delivery to the Hanar. But to see one in person, it beggars belief.

"I thought I would find you here." Says a familiar voice, interrupting his thoughts. Raalo'Tai turns to see Quatre entering the observation deck, wearing clothing similar to what he wore when they first met. Raalo'Tai stands up from his seat, greeting Quatre with a small bow.

"Mr. Winner, what can I assist you with?" Raalo'Tai had communicated with the Fleet at the first possible chance he had. When he informed them of who had come to their rescue, the Admirals had him confirm several times that THE Quatre Raberba Winner, owner of the Winner Corporation and one of the richest and most powerful humans alive had rescued his ship and crew from Batarians Slavers, they made sure he knew exactly what was at stake and to treat Winner and his people with the utmost respect. Especially as a number of Quarians are currently employed by the Winner Corporation on Trade Station Prometheus at a wage and standing far above what they could expect in Citadel Space.

"Nothing right now Captain." States Quatre, sitting down across from him and gesturing Raalo'Tai to sit with a smile. One of Quatre's servants/bodyguards/employees brings them both refreshments, and Raalo'Tai is surprised to find that they have Dextro drinks for him. They must have shipped those specifically for his crew. Not one to turn down such thoughtfulness, he waited until Quatre took a snack before taking a drink for himself. "Just seeing how you and your crew are doing and to ask if there is anything you need right now."

The Captain can only sit in wonder at the kindness of the human opposite him. No Alien has treated the Quarians with such thoughtfulness in living memory. "My people are good for now Mr. Winner. The repairs are going smoothly and we should be able to finish within the next week, as long as nothing goes wrong of course." And there is still plenty to go wrong. They haven't tested the Core yet, so they do not know if it even works anymore.

"I see." Quatre takes a sip of tea before turning to look out the window. Raalo'Tai takes this time to sip his own drink, a Turian favorite among those from Palaven, the fruity flavor delighting his taste buds. "If I may ask, what were you observing from here?"

The Quarian puts down the drink before answering. "I am just admiring your Space Colony. None of the Citadel Species are capable of building such a large, space based structure without using a ludicrous amount of Element Zero."

"Our species has been building Space Colonies for over two hundred years. For 197 of those years, we did not know that Element Zero existed. We've become very good engineers as a result." If that wasn't an understatement, Raalo'Tai didn't know what was. Quatre gestures to the Colony on their left, the one further away. "I purchased that Colony about seven years ago before completing its construction myself." With the knowledge of how much the human across from him is worth that statement is not a surprise. Quatre sighs, "Unfortunately, that specific Colony has a bad reputation among my species so I have not been able to get many people to settle it. As such, I moved it into this system to use as housing for my workers here."

"I can attest to the fact that your species are very good engineers. Before the Humans came along, the Quarians were agreed upon as the best engineers around, thus why the Citadel species tolerated us so much given our reputation." Raalo'Tai says bitterly.

Quatre hums in understanding. "Tell me Captain, your species as a whole travels in a vast collection of space ships correct?"

"Yes." He answers, not knowing where the conversation is going, "We travel the stars in a fleet of over 50,000 ships, though many are old and barely holding together."

Quatre nods, "How large is your population Captain?"

Raalo'Tai squirms a bit, feeling uncomfortable, but answers the question that most Quarians would answer willingly if asked. "17 million, population controlled. Even though we have the largest fleet in the galaxy, space is still at a premium." Quatre merely nods again, and the Quarian can tell he is thinking of something. "If I may ask, why are you so interested in our population and fleet size?"

"Just thinking of how I can help the Quarian people." Raalo'Tai is at a loss of words. He asks the question before he can stop himself.

"Why?"

Quatre stands up from his seat and answers. "I have the means and capability to help. It would behoove me to not help when I am able." Quatre nods to the Quarian captain before moving towards the door. "I need to contact a few people before I can do anything. Continue on repairing your ship Captain, I should have something for you by the time you are ready to leave."

Raalo'Tai can only sit in place, dumbfounded at what he has just heard. For once, he has a small measure of hope for the future of his people.

* * *

"Quatre wants to do what?" asks Relena, looking into the screen.

"I said, he wants to sell a Colony to the Quarians." Says Dorothy. Though she does not show it, she is quite annoyed at her husband for the moment. Leaving the running of their business empire to her and gallivanting off to the edges of human space for a month has not endeared him to her good graces. Of course, she relishes running the company on her own, crushing the competition and conquering any market she wishes, but it would have been nice for some alone time with him especially since she had just returned from Citadel Space.

"Why?" Relena asks, unknowingly parroting the Quarian Captain Quatre was speaking to.

"Because he is far too kind for his own good, you know this Relena." Dorothy sighs. He truly is too kind sometimes, but it was that kindness and forgiving nature that drew Dorothy to him in the first place. "He sees a group of people he can help and cannot stop himself from trying to help them."

Relena leans back into her office chair, rubbing her forehead. The video call is a welcome distraction from her workload, but now she realizes that Quatre and Dorothy are going to merely cause more complications than needed. "What Colony does he want to sell to them anyways? The one sold to the Hanar is the last one available, the next Colony isn't scheduled to be complete for another three months. Are we going to have to ask the Colonist to postpone their move in date again?"

"Of course not Relena." Dorothy responds. "The Colony is moving to Shanxi anyways, so the Systems Alliance would not allow the sale to the Quarians regardless, as it moves back their timescale with the Citadel Species. No, what Quatre is proposing is to give them a Colony he already owns."

"A Colony he already owns?" Relena thinks out loud, before her eyes widen.

* * *

"What do you mean Mr. Winner wants to sell X-18999 to the Quarians?" asks the President.

"He wishes to help them Mr. President." Relena explains, all eyes on her, "Their entire population can fit in X-18999 and it has already been moved to the fringe of Human space. Quatre simply wishes for them to move in and use an otherwise empty Space Colony."

There are murmurs around the table before the Defense Minister speaks up. "I am … uncomfortable with selling a Space Colony to the Quarians. Selling to the Hanar is one thing, they have good standing with the Citadel. The Quarians, not so much. Also, they would be within our territory. As vaunted as the Maganac corp is, their entire force could not stop a fleet of 50,000 ships." Since the end of the attempted Coup, the Maganac Corp had been expanded by Quatre. The surviving 30 members formed the core of the unit, which has expanded to 80 Suits, four Frigates, two Cruisers and around 2,000 ground troops. They are spread around Human space and are mainly guards for various Winner Corporation assets. Quatre is allowed such a large force as he and Dorothy own three of the five Mobile Suit factories in existence, thus needing a force large enough to guard the facilities in case of attack.

"I agree." States the Finance Minister. "Also, can the Quarians even afford to purchase one of the Colonies? Why have they not yet colonized a planet yet in 300 years?"

The table devolved from there, each Minister either for or against with no clear winner, until Relena stood up from her seat. The entire table fell silent, each person looking to her. "Ladies and Gentlemen, we have a decision to make. One of the reasons the Systems Alliance rejected joining the Citadel was the treatment of the Quarians. How in over 300 years, the Quarian people have not received support from the Citadel Governments. That in their most dire hour of need, they were turned away and shunned. We have a chance to prove to them that a better way exists. How can we reject joining the Citadel out of principle and then shun that same principle when the time comes?" Relena looks each of them in the eye. "Quatre sympathizes with their plight. They are a dying people, clinging onto life by a thread. We have a chance to help them at almost no cost to ourselves. What kind of people are we if we turn them away."

Relena sits back down as silence permeates the meeting room. The Culture Minister speaks up "I… agree with Minister Relena. We cannot state that we abhor the Citadel practices while engaging in them when it suits us. We have to show that there is a better way." The Minister looks around the table. "That said, I am still uncomfortable with selling them a Colony outright."

The last statement disheartened Relena, but it is progress nonetheless. "What do you suggest Minister?"

* * *

The Shenpa is finally repaired. The Core was indeed damaged, but not too badly. They were also able to repair a few outstanding items that had been neglected due to lack of resources and time, so the ship is functioning better than when it was purchased initially for the fleet. Having few things to trade with themselves, they paid for the parts by repairing and maintaining parts of the station they are on.

Now the ship is ready to leave the dry dock, the last of the provisions having just been loaded. Raalo'Tai is on the dock, making sure that all of his people are ready to go when he is approached by Quatre.

Raalo'Tai bows to the young human. "Mr. Winner, I thank you for your generosity in hosting my crew here and allowing us to repair our ship. The Quarian people will never forget your kindness."

"It is of no concern Captain. You are my guests, I would be a poor host if my guest left my care worse off than when they entered." Quatre easily replies, the usual smile adorning his face. He hands over a data pad to the Captain. "I came today to see you off and to provide a proposal to the Quarian Fleet. Please, give that data pad to your leaders as soon as you are capable, I believe they would be interested in what it contains."

Raalo'Tai nods, tucking the data pad away. He can peruse it later. Quatre holds out his hand, which the Quarian looks at in confusion before slowly holding out his own hand, which Quatre grabs hold of and shakes. "Be safe, Captain."

Raalo'Tai finishes shaking his hand and salutes Quatre, before turning around and entering the Shenpa. Once he is on the bridge, the ship detaches from the clamps and leaves the docking bay. Raalo'Tai has one last look at the Space Colony before ordering the ship back to the Migrant Fleet.

Once the ship is underway, he pulls out the data pad and starts looking through the contents, wondering what kind of proposal Quatre would have for the Quarian people. His eyes widen in astonishment at what is inside.

* * *

 **Migrant Fleet , September – AC 204**

A heated debate is being held by the Admirals of the Quarian Fleet. Raalo'Tai had returned a week prior, bearing the data pad with the Human proposal. He was sworn to silence while the Admirals discussed what they should do next.

"Why are we even having this discussion?" asks Var'Tenel, Admiral of the Civilian Fleet. "This is the best proposal the Quarian people have received in over 300 years, and you want to reject it?"

"They're not giving us a planet!" Argues Ter'Talos, Admiral of the Heavy Fleet. "They're not even giving us one of their Space Colonies! They're merely 'allowing' us to 'lease' a Space Colony. We would be under their laws while not being one of their citizens. We would have restricted movement within Systems Alliance Space, and they would not even be providing us with Mobile Suits to defend ourselves with. This ' _deal_ ' is not as good as you think it is Var'Tenel."

"Be that as it may be, it is far better than any 'deal' we have received from the Citadel Governments or the Terminus system. Every one of us knows every moment the Fleet is out here is another moment we could be attacked by pirates, or slavers, or even the Citadel itself." Var'Tenel shouts back.

"Gentleman, Gentleman please!" interrupts Shala'Raan. Being the youngest Quarian on the Admiralty Board, her recommendations are not taken as seriously as the rest, but they still do listen. "Var'Tenel, though I believe this is a great opportunity it is not without its risks. One of the things, one of them, one of the things that keep the Fleet safe is that it is a Fleet, always moving from place to place. Settling down on a Space Colony will both increase the chances of attack while dropping the chances of a ship failure costing lives." She turns to the other Admiral. "And Ter'Talos, this truly is the best option we have at the moment. Yes, we would be more or less under their laws and limitations, but that is true every time the Fleet goes through a Colonized System. We simply do not have a choice in the matter." She looks at the other Admiral, the one who hasn't spoken yet. "Admiral Van'Tessel, what are your thoughts?"

The Special Projects Admiral stays seated, arms crossed in contemplation. He leans forward and says "The Humans are capable of engineering feats the Quarians were simply experimenting with at the height of our Golden Age. Even the _Alerai_ and the _Destiny Ascension_ are regarded as technical showpieces rather than projects that would be economically viable. But these Humans have figured out how to build massive space stations to house the majority of their population. From a purely scientific and engineering standpoint, I am for accepting the offer from the Systems Alliance."

Having said his piece, Van'Tessel crossed his arms once more and leaned back in the seat. Knowing he is outnumbered, Var'Tenel looks to the last member of the Admiralty Board, Maero'Shaello.

Maero'Shaello is the oldest active member of the Admiralty Board. Even though she is an Admiral, she does not control a portion of the Quarian Fleet. Instead, every five years the Conclave convenes and elects one of the Captains among them to the Board to be their representative. Maero'Shaello has been elected by the Conclave for the last 40 years.

Var'Tenel asks her "Maero'Shaello, what is the opinion of the Conclave on this matter? What are their feeling about the Humans?"

Maero'Shaello remains seated and poised. "In general, the Conclave sees the Humans as new, interesting, insane, confusing, and helpful." The questioning looks implore her to elaborate. "Being new does not need to be explained. They are interested in the Humans due to their capabilities. They consider the Humans insane for having a fighting force centered on corvette sized 'mobile suits'. The speed in which they can build large, artificial constructs on the ground and in space is baffling. And lastly, from the Quarians that were able to either smuggle, bribe or convince the Citadel Species to allow them onto _Prometheus_ station, the Humans do not discriminate them anymore than they would discriminate against the other Citadel Species. In fact, several have been promoted to higher positions within the Winner Corporation in the time they have been there. In short, I believe the Conclave would be agreeable to this decision."

Though only the opinion of one Quarian, Maero'Shaello has been able to keep her position for so long by knowing exactly what the majority of the Conclave wants at any given time. If she says that they would accept the deal, they most likely would accept the deal and by a large enough majority that the vote would be undisputed.

Van'Tessel speaks again. "There is one more issue we are ignoring." The other four look at him in confusion. "We are ignoring the benefit of being able to control a large bio-sphere down to the wind, humidity, temperature and climate. From the reports of those on their Pilgrimage, the Hanar have been able to either halt or reverse Kepral Syndrome in most of the Drell. Only those in the late stages of the sickness are unable to be saved. This has led to the Humans and Hanar to working on other Medical projects. Currently, they are working on a Gel used for treatment of wounds."

Shala'Raan has an idea of what he is saying but has to make sure. "What are you getting at?"

"I am saying" he pauses, looking at the others nervously, "that if we accept this offer and they give us full control of the Colony, including control of the environmental variables … that with experimentation and some luck, the Quarian people as a whole can recover their immune systems to Pre-Exile levels in three generations or less."

Silence spread throughout the room. "Van" says Shala'Raan, "are you saying-"

"It will be difficult" the Admiral interrupts, speaking quickly, "it will take a long time and there will be failures along the way. The Colony we will be given already has dirt and plants from the Human home world on it. We would need to completely remove it and then scrub every surface of the Colony to ensure no bacteria survive. A strong enough radiation pulse should suffice, but the Colony is probably shielded from such things so it would need to go off from the inside. Afterwards, we would need to either import dirt from a dextro based world or sacrifice some of the soil we have on the _Alerai_. Using surviving plants from the live ships, we would then plant some of them into the soil and use their seeds to grow more plants and spread them throughout the Colony." Van'Tessel stops talking, catching his breath and looks at each person in the eye. "Let me be clear. This process of adapting our immune system will not be done within our lifetimes. If, and I mean IF, we are very lucky our children will be able to see the benefits. But more than likely it will be our grandchildren or great grandchildren who would truly be free from the suits we inhabit."

Silence once more dominated the room as the four Admirals digested the news. Short of reclaiming Rannoch itself, repairing the Quarian immune system and ridding them of their suits is the greatest wish of all Quarians. They would never be completely free of their suits, as even before the Geth Uprising Quarians still wore environmental suits when visiting non-Quarian held worlds or the Citadel. But to be in the same room as family? To be amongst their own people? To be able to enter their own bedrooms without fear of contamination, to have food that is not processed inside a tube?

"I.."Var'Tenel starts, "I… I withdraw my objections." Var lost his wife and child through a containment breach during childbirth.

Lost in his own thoughts, Var'Tenel didn't pay attention when Maero stood up. "We cannot decide this for ourselves. Though we can override the vote if necessary, this is something that needs to be addressed by the Conclave. Agreed?"

Every Admiral nodded, even Var'Tenel, though it seemed like he is just going along with them, still lost in his memories. "Very well then. I will provide the notes from this meeting to the ship Captains and call a meeting within the next month. We are adjourned."

* * *

The Migrant Fleet was in Chaos for the next three weeks. Those that could returned from their Pilgrimage early, eager to give their opinions on what could possibly be the most important decision the Fleet ever took.

Some made outlandish demands that would never be met or even considered, others wondered why the Humans were so giving.

The debate lasted the entire three weeks before the vote was held. Each ship Captain voted, the results being tallied in real time.

A few days later, a single Quarian ship approached Relay 314, transitioning through after providing the Turian patrol fleet the access codes that Quatre had given them.

Three days later, Anita Goyle is having a private meeting with the Citadel Council.

"The Humans have given the Quarians Asylum?" questions Vorex. He is asking Anita Goyle in the small conference room. The Systems Alliance decided that the Citadel Council deserved an in person briefing before the press release to the general public.

"Yes" answers the Human Ambassador, "One of our citizens owns a privately held Space Colony that is not being used at the moment. He interacted with a Quarian crew after their Scout Ship was rescued from a group of Batarian slavers by his employees. He then requested and received approval from the Systems Alliance to offer the entire Quarian people a lease for the unused Colony."

"And how long would this 'lease' be for Ambassador?" asks Urrip. She took over for Eslein the previous month.

"The lease is for 50 years, with the option to purchase the Colony after their lease has ended." Comes the easy answer. "I'll be honest, the lease is just a formality. The citizen who owns the Colony is charging them roughly 100 credits a year. Most likely, he will just give them the Colony when the term ends."

"If he is just going to give them the Colony for free why bother with the lease period at all?" is the next question Urrip has.

"Certain elements within the Systems Alliance are uncomfortable with having an entire alien race within our borders. As such, this lease is a test case for the Quarian people. There are several clauses that will void the agreement in its entirety and force them to move out within a week. Of course, those causes are merely extreme cases, such as starting a war or insurrection."

With the questions answered, the Council went back to their private chambers while Anita went back to get ready for the influx of Quarians to the Alliance Embassy.

Once in their secure chambers, they wasted no time in getting to the issue.

"Tevos," says Vorex, "you were quiet the entire time we met with Ambassador Goyle. What are your thoughts on this development?"

Tevos stays quiet for a few moments. "Honestly? I expected something like this to happen, though not so soon and not in such a way."

"What do you mean?" asks Urrip.

"Ambassador Relena spoke of how we ignored those in need." The other two slightly flinched at the reminder of the speech, as it hit closer to home then they would have liked. "Reading the briefing packet from the Diplomatic Corps, Ambassador Relena would most likely have enough influence to convince the Systems Alliance to sell a Space Colony to the Migrant Fleet. Of course, this was supposed to be a sale and not a donation, but I suppose this is more in line with the human way of thinking."

The other two digested her words and agreed with the conclusion. "Moving on" says Tevos, "what is the status of our trade with the Systems Alliance?"

"Trade is going smoothly so far." Says Vorex, "The Volus tell me that their manufactured goods are quite sturdy and in demand, while our main exports are Element Zero and other raw materials, with technology being a close third. There have also been a few inquiries for the purchase of Space Colonies by the individual Citadel Governments. Actually, I've been meaning to ask if the Citadel itself should buy a Colony." The other two look at him with surprise as he continues talking. "Space is at a premium here, and even the areas considered low class are outrageously expensive to live in. What I recommend is to purchase a Space Colony to help alleviate the congestion issue and help keep property prices down."

Urrip ponders the question. "It is a good plan. Will increase population of Citadel Space while lowering cost of living in general. However, there are many things to consider from transit to defense."

"I'm not saying we purchase one now," corrects Vorrex, "but it is something to consider for the future."

"Quite" answer Tevos, "We shall see how the Drell cope long term. Initial results look promising, but we shall see. In the meantime, how goes the implanting of our agents into Prometheus Station?"

"Several STG and Council Agents have been implanted successfully." Answers Urrip. "We have a good distribution across the board. Most are in the Citadel section of the station of course, though a few have taken residence in the Business section. The Human section is difficult to enter on the best of days, and only the highest ranking members of the Military or Diplomatic attachments have been allowed into their control center."

"So it's a work in progress," sighs Tevos. It would have been so much easier had the Humans simply joined the Citadel. "In any case, let us move on to other matters."

#######################

 **X-18999 – October AC 204**

A day after Anita meets the Council, the Systems Alliance announces the acceptance of the entire Quarian race as Refugees. The Migrant Fleet sends out a message to all Quarians on their Pilgrimage to immediately book passage to Systems Alliance Space, where they will be taken to their new Home.

The Migrant Fleet itself has already moved into Human Space and is busy offloading their people into the Colony. The Quarian Colony has not moved from its original location at the fringe of human space.

Captain Rael'Zorah Vas Alerai finished unloading his ship and stepped into the interior of the Colony. He still can't believe that this Space Colony now belongs to the Quarian people. Sure they are technically only leasing it, but the Conclave met with the young Human owner of the Colony who assured them of their ownership and the legal reasons on why he had to lease it rather than gift it to them. Also, the Winner Corporation would be the main employer of the Quarians through purchasing any raw materials they gathered or employing them directly within the corporation. Several factories and a Human owned Space Colony are also located in the System, making the transfer of goods and services easier.

"Heloooooo?" comes a shout. Rael turns around to see a male Human with a long braided hair standing next to a female human with short hair, coming towards him. "Hi! My name's Duo Maxwell and this is my wife Hilde. We're members of the Sweeper Group, which is an organization that purchases and recycles manufactured goods. Can you * _snrkt*_ take me to your leaders?"

Hilde elbowed Duo quite hard in the ribs while Rael remembered the announcement that the Migrant Fleet would start selling some of their more outdated items for money. This human must be their point of contact.

"Ah, of course please follow me." Duo is still doubled over from the elbow but Hilde grabs his arm and follows Rael. Gaining his breath back, Duo speaks to the Quarian.

"So" says Duo, "what do you think of the place?"

"It's amazing." Is the honest reply. "It is not a planet, but with this structure our species has long term stability for the first time in over 300 years. I'm still having trouble believing it is ours."

"Believe it buddy" says Duo, putting his arm round Rael's neck while Hilde face palms, "and don't worry, Quatre will take care of you. And hell, the Sweeper Group is always looking for more skilled engineers."

Rael is uncomfortable with how touchy the human is getting, something Hilde is able to pick up. "Duo, let the poor man go." She says while prying him off the alien. She make sure he doesn't try anything by keeping their arms entwined, something Duo has no problem with. "Sorry about that, Duo has problems with personal space sometimes."

Rael clears his throat, "Well, there will many Quarians who will take you up on your offer. We have many skilled engineers amongst our people."

Further conversation stopped as the group of three reached the building the Admirals had setup in temporarily. Hilde took over to explain what they are here for and negotiate their rates, as she has a much better sense for business than Duo does.

* * *

 **Arcturus Station, Preventers Headquarters**

Lady Une and Noin are meeting in Une's private office.

"So" says Une, "How goes our relations with the new neighbors?"

"Well" replies Noin, "Duo has introduced himself to their leadership. The Quarians have agreed to sell some of the ships for 'salvage' to the Sweepers Group, who will be able to reverse engineer whatever they get their hands on and understand the Citadel Species design philosophy. Duo also has general access to the Quarian Colony and is free to come and go as he pleases. With his previous experience infiltrating X-18999 he should be able to handle anything that happens. Duo and Hilde are currently living in the Human Space Colony in the same system, so their response times would be optimal should the situation arise."

Noin flips to a different report. "Sally and Wufei have things under control on Prometheus Station, though they have complained to me personally about the Representative the Systems Alliance sent."

"Nothing we can do about that" replies Une, exhaling heavily "Udina may be personally grating but he has the best Interest of the Systems Alliance at heart. There's a reason Relena approved of him."

"True, but she doesn't have to work with Udina on a daily basis."

Une smiles at that. "What about the other forces in the Shanxi system."

"Two Titan Stations are in the System, the original and the one moved to protect Prometheus Station." Noin flips a few more pages. "The original fleet has been replaced with a dedicated patrol fleet. There is also a Preventers Cruiser on station near Shanxi should the need arise. That's not including having Trowa on the planet as well."

"I'm surprised Trowa agreed to stay permanently on Shanxi."

"Well" Noin leans in, even though the office is completely secure from eavesdropping, "From what Sally tells me, Trowa has become quite enamored with the daughter of one General Williams. The feeling appears to be quite mutual from what I have been able to gather."

"Really?" asks Une with a smile.

"Really." Noin leans back to sit upright again. "As such, he agreed to the posting without much of a fuss."

The two have a quiet laugh before Noin finishes up her reports and departs the office for another meeting.

Walking to her destination, she is unsurprised to find Heero already waiting for her. They nod to each other and enter the auditorium, where over 50 military members are waiting for them.

* * *

Lieutenant Anderson is sitting with his teammates, wondering what the meeting is all about. He was informed a week ago about a new posting possibility and that he would need to attend orientation where more information would be available. It was quite strange, but he went to Arcturus anyway with his squad mates and is now waiting to be informed of what's going on.

Looking around, Anderson sees a mixture of personnel from the different branches of the Systems Alliance. Marines, Navy, Preventers, Titan Station, there looks to be an even distribution of personnel, men and women.

The door near the lecturn opens and two people enter. He recognizes Lucrezia Noin, one of the top commanders of the Preventers. With her is the personal bodyguard of Relena Darlian. A Preventers agent shouts "ATTENTION!" causing every attendee to stand up straight.

"As you were" says Noin, standing behind the podium. She waits until everyone is seated again while Heero leans back against the wall. "All of you are probably wondering why you have been called here. I am going to answer those questions right now."

The lights dim as a projector turns on, displaying the known Galaxy. "Up until mid-last year, the Systems Alliance has always had a defensive mindset. For the most part this has not changed. But with the introduction of the Citadel and Terminus Systems, the higher ups acknowledges the fact that there are times where our Military will need to go on the offensive. Studying Citadel history shows us that a small group of highly trained individuals can keep the peace better than an outsized army stomping over everything in their path." The screen changes to what information the Systems Alliance has regarding the Spectres. "As such, the Systems Alliance has decided that it needs a New Type of soldier, one who is tasked with eliminating threats before they become reality. Everyone here has been chosen as you are the best of each branch."

A Marine raises his hand in question, which Noin acknowledges. "Ma'am, what's to prevent this small force from being another Specials?"

"I'm glad you ask that question" replies Noin, "This branch is composed only of the top 1% of the military and will be under the command of the Preventers. Though it will act as a separate unit in most cases, it has been designed to never grow so large as to pose a coup threat to the current administration, at least on its own. Those currently here are merely the first of many that will undergo this training."

A Titan Station member asks the next question "What kind of missions would this group undertake?"

"Espionage, sabotage, assassination, subterfuge and the like." Noin can see that the majority of the attendees are uncomfortable with what she says. "Those who do not wish to participate in this program are free to leave. Any who stay past this point are committed to completion or wash out." A few squirmed in their seat but no one left.

Noin nodded in satisfaction. "Good. In one week you are to report to the Preventers Mars Base to begin your training." Noin looks over to Heero and nods. "One last thing. The training you are about to undergo will test you not only physically, but emotionally and psychologically. But I encourage you to do your best as you have a rare opportunity before you. Heero?"

Heero moves to the podium and makes a simple announcement "We have a spare Gundam."

Anderson can't breath, not believing what was just implied. He doesn't even hear Noin dismissing the attendees.

Anderson looks down and clinches both his fist, determination blazing inside of him. He looks around and sees the same determination in the faces of those gathered. Anderson leaves to start making preparations.

* * *

Heero and Noin walk side by side through Arcturus. "Thank you for agreeing to this Heero."

'Hmmm' is the reply. Noin figures that would be the end of their 'conversation' but Heero says "What have you heard about this 'Illusive' man?"

Noin is surprised at the question. "I do not believe that he is anything dangerous. The open letter did not target the Systems Alliance nor was it outright hostile to the Citadel Species. I believe it was just someone venting about changes and how we should be careful."

"I don't know about that." Is the reply. "The wording reminded me of someone that supported OZ."

Noin is further caught off guard. "Are you saying they're a threat to us?"

"Maybe not right now, but I wouldn't disregard this 'Cerberus' if I were you. Make sure to bring it up with Une when you get the chance." Heero turns down a different hallway as Noin stops. "After all, we didn't get everyone behind the Mariemaia Coup attempt or the Romefeller Foundation."

Heero continued walking, leaving Noin to ponder his words of warning.

##########################

Those Fools. They should have gone to war with the Citadel, damn the costs. But no, those cowards decided to accept their humiliation like WEAKLINGS while his brother rots in a Citadel Prison waiting for his trial, as if those low lives could pass judgement on one that is far superior to them.

The Hegemony would not help him. All those he turned to turned him down, cast his family into doubt after untold GENERATIONS served faithfully.

No. This is the last straw. He will go alone, into the Galaxy and bring divine punishment on these _humans_ who DARED to believe that they are better.

And he, Balak, would bring them to their rightful place, licking the dirt off the boot of their masters.

* * *

#

* * *

AN

Edit: A reviewer pointed out to me that I somehow switched Dorothy with Catherine. Oops, fixed it.

And that's that. So ends Gundam Wing: Shattered Dreams.

Sorry it took so long for this chapter to get up, I just lost motivation for a long while. Do I have plans to continue this story? Um, let's just go with maybe? I have ideas, but currently no motivation to actually write it out. My writing style may have changed quite a bit since the last chapter, but it's too late to change all of that now. Also, I tried to keep the subheadings in the same format but I probably messed that up as well.

So anyone get that OG Gundam reference? Everyone has an idea of what the N in N7 stands for, this is what it means in this universe.

And yes, Dorothy is the reason we have a 13 hour long all Elcor cast of Hamlet.

Selling a Space Colony is a logical step, especially to a species such as the Drell, who are near extinction and wish to remain close to their benefactors. The entire population can survive in orbit around the Hanar home world on a Space Colony. The bit about Humans working with the Hanar on medical studies is to explain the creation of Medi-Gel.

So Prometheus is the Titan that stole fire from the Greek Gods and gave it to man. Other sources state that he also taught Humans the basis of civilization (reading, writing, agriculture, medicine, science, etc…). His punishment is that he is to be chained to a rock, where upon an eagle would come by every day and eat his liver which would regenerate every night due to his immortality. This occurred every day until Hercules freed him from his chains. Anyways, a trading station named Prometheus seemed to be the best fit for the narrative.

So the Systems Alliance gives up control of Relay 314 to the Citadel. Some of you may think this is stupid, and that's understandable. But they only control the corridor of space between the Relay itself and Prometheus Station. Any ships venturing outside that small corridor of Space is under the purview of the Systems Alliance. Also, any ship going to Shanxi HAS to stop at Prometheus Station, and they cannot go to Shanxi without authorization of both the Titan Station and Prometheus Station. So yes, they lose control of the Relay but still keep control of what goes in and out of the Shanxi system.

Battuta is the name of a medieval explorer from Morocco. He is known of having explored the majority of the Muslim world and even as far as Southeast Asia and China. The ship was originally named the Saladin, but I realized that would be like naming a US exploration ship the Eisenhower, it just wouldn't make sense.

Also, there are four 'Fleets' within the Migrant fleet: Heavy, Civilian, Scout and Special Projects. However, Tali and her father are both Admirals. But Admiral of what? So I created that the Conclave votes one of their own to Admiral (which is what happens to Tali in ME 3 if she is not exiled) to voice their opinion during Admiral sessions.

Yes, Ashley is the daughter of Trowa. She is the character who epitomizes the 'more dakka' persona if you don't choose the Soldier class so I thought it fitting.

Most of you forgot about 01 huh? This is to explain why Shepard gets to use it on his hunt for Balak, the antagonist of ME1. After all, there's no reason for Saren to hate humanity. Stories that don't have the Turian Hierarchy be the enemy in the 1st contact war and then still have Saren as the antagonist make me scratch my head.

Oh, and Shepard will of course be the child of Heero and Relena. Spoilers on that below.

That should be all. Onto the Reviews:

Thank you everyone that stated Relena's speech was good. I still feel like it could have been better but she got the point across.

Batarian Spectres exist in this AU as the Council is known for putting up with the BS of the Hegemony for far too long. Like I stated in previous chapters, the Hegemony would probably be a Council member if they got rid of Slavery and their support for Traverse Pirates, so Spectres were already approved.

The Citadel Council would of course get Mobile Suits. It wouldn't be a Gundam series if it was just Mobile Suit to Ship Combat most of the time. And the Geth would of course have their own versions as well. The Council would try to make their own version, but it wouldn't be until the end of the 1st game when Shepard convinces the Systems Alliance of the Reaper threat that Humanity provides the blueprints on how to build a MS, as well as provide some of their older and current suits to be examined by the Council species. This would convince the Council that Humanity considers the threat a real enough to share their trump card. Again, this is for a future story that may not be made.

Uh, that covers mostly everything. Onto the Omakes (these are Canon):

* * *

Origins of Cerberus. (Takes place between 1 and 2)

 **Cerberus Station, Unknown Nebula**

The Illusive Man sits in his chair, viewing the star out the window. To his side are multiple displays, each showing a different aspect of one Commander Shepard. He has already memorized the reports, but seeing Shepard in action helps reinforce his decision.

The door opens, allowing one Miranda Lawson to enter. She strides up to leader of Cerberus. "Sir, are you sure we need Shepard? There must be others that could do just as well."

The Cerberus leader simply breathes in the cigarette smoke, not even bothering to take his eyes off the shifting star. "Yes Miranda, I am sure. If his parentage was not enough, then the actions Shepard took more than convinced me of the Commanders necessity in the coming fight."

Miranda watches the footage for a few moments, seeing 01 blast apart some Geth Mobile Suits in battle. "I sense that you do not approve." Continues the Illusive Man.

Miranda gathers her thoughts before replying. "I believe that the resources could be spent better elsewhere sir."

"Perhaps" he exhales a cloud of smoke, "and perhaps those other projects will work out. Perhaps I am putting too much faith in one person. But you have no experience with what that family is capable of."

"Sir?" Miranda asks, unsure of where the Illusive man is going with this.

For his part, the man simply keeps smoking. "Have I ever told you the origins of Cerberus?"

Miranda stays quiet for a moment. "It started after contact was established with the Citadel Species."

"True." He replies, "That is when I sent out my open letter calling for the defense of Humanity. But do you ever wonder what the roots of Cerberus are? Where Cerberus was before I published that letter?"

Of course she has. Miranda would never work for an organization before finding out everything she possibly could have. But the true origins are always a mystery. Only a few people in existence knew, and Miranda has a feeling she will soon be one of those people.

"Cerberus is an amalgamation of the organizations that came before it. Three different groups, three 'Heads' if you will, pooling what resources and influence they had left to do what is necessary." He takes a sip of 50 year old scotch before inhaling the cigarette smoke once more. "The first organization is one you should be most familiar with, as your father was a member." Miranda tensed subconsciously at the mention of her 'father' but The Illusive Man continues on. "Though he and I are not of 'noble' birth, the Romefellar Foundation is not one to ignore those committed to their cause, especially if they can be of use. Noble born I may not be, but with my knowledge and connections I rose through the ranks. It was my idea to use Relena as a figure head, and history shows us how well that plan faired. Duke Dermail kept me as a confidant and advisor, and when Treize took over I made sure to scrub any mention of myself from the Foundation records, attributing my ideas and advice to others who have already died.

"Second is the White Fang. Though we were on opposite sides of the war, the loss of Libra and the majority of their fighting force made them weak and in need of assistance. I used what connections I had left to hide the true leaders, sacrificing the middle ranks as needed. Quinze dying was actually a boon as his zealotry would have hindered their cooperation with me.

"And finally, we have the Barton Foundation." Having finished his cigarette, The Illusive Man pulls out another one and lights up. "Honestly, until the Mariemaia incident I had believed they were no longer players, their ability to keep secrets kept even me in the dark."

Throat dry, he takes another sip of fine Scotch. "And thus we have the Three Heads of Cerberus. The members of the Romefellar Foundation provides the majority of our funding. The White Fang supplies us with the majority of our soldiers. The Barton Foundation has the best infiltrators in Alliance Space. These three separate entities, becoming one under my leadership, flourishing in our roles as protectors, guiding Humanity from the shadows.

"That, is the true history of Cerberus."

Miranda stays quiet, absorbing the information. She is honored he trusts her with this information, however "I still don't understand why we need Shepard sir."

"Oh Miranda, I thought you would see the bigger picture." Miranda bristles but The Illusive Man keeps talking. "Do you know what brought down these three organizations?"

"Treize Kushrenada, The Organization of the Zodiac and the Earth Sphere Unified Nations."

"No." He states flatly. "They may have been the victors, but victory did not belong to them alone.

"The Romefellar Foundation fell to infighting after making Relena Peacecraft the Queen of the World and the Foundation leaders were killed, opening the doorway for Treize to take control. The Gundam Pilots, specifically Heero Yuy, defeated the White Fang by stopping Libra from destroying Earth and wining a one on one duel with Zechs, who never really wanted to destroy Earth anyways. And finally, Wing Zero destroyed the Presidential Mansion, allowing Relena Darlian to convince Mariemaia and her army to surrender.

"I have witnessed two individuals change the course of human history three times, and then watched their child fight a being of nightmare to save the Galaxy.

"Now do you understand why I have chosen Shepard?"

Miranda understands, even though she does not fully agree. Regardless, she will follow orders. The Illusive Man has never steered them wrong before.

"Good. Continue with your project. I will secure any funding and personnel you deem necessary. Make sure you file monthly reports."

Taking that as a dismissal Miranda exitss the room, leaving The Illusive Man to his own devices.

* * *

What do you think of that? Like how my Cerberus came together? It's amazing how much two completely different things match up if you try a little.

Onto the 2nd Omake.

* * *

There were two Systems (Takes place in the beginning of ME 2, just before getting the Normandy again)

"Alright. I'm in." Shepard told The Illusive man.

"Good to hear Shepard." He inhales some cigarette smoke before continuing. "As good as you are, you'll need a team with you in order to fight these Collectors effectively."

"I had a team, a good one. I want them back." Comes Shepard's reply. Even through the QEC the determination is undeniable.

"I figured you would." Pressing a button, a set of holographic files appear before Shepard. "I took the liberty of tracking down as many of your old team as possible and uploaded their dossiers to your Omni-tool. Included are some others I have determined would be of use to you. Recruit them, ignore them, the choice is yours."

Shepard skims the received files, nodding in satisfaction after seeing all the dossiers of the old ground team. "I'll also need equipment. A ship and some good Mobile Suits."

"The Ship we have covered, though the Mobile Suit presents us with a bit of a conundrum. A standard mass produced Mobile Suit would be unable to keep up with your reflexes. It would hold you back in the most critical of situations. 01 served you well, though detonating it to take down the Collector ship was quite a loss."

"I'll sacrifice whatever equipment necessary to ensure the safety of my crew." Shepard replies heatedly.

"And that's commendable Shepard, truly. However, that does not alleviate the problem of providing you with a proper MS."

"Can't you just rebuild 01 like you rebuilt me?"

"No." The Cerberus leader takes another sip of scotch. "When the Alliance retrieval teams came they took every scrap of 01 they could. What they didn't take could fit in my glass right here. And stealing a Gundam is out of the question. Not only do we not know where they are, the disappearance of one would bring the Systems Alliance down on us harder than you could imagine. It is simply not worth it."

"Surely you could build an equivalent machine with the resources you have." Knowing Cerberus, Shepard doesn't believe everything was spent on the Commander's revival.

"Of course we could. However, even with the smuggling of Gundanium Alloy, no easy feat I should tell you, building an equivalent Mobile Suit from scratch is a harrowing ordeal. Believe me when I say that reconstructing your body was simple in comparison. Those five scientist were truly geniuses."

"So we're stuck at square one again."

"I didn't say that Shepard." The Commander immediately wants to slap the smug off The Illusive Man's face. "We cannot get a hold of the six Gundams the Systems Alliance has, nor can we build a new Gundam from scratch.

"But we do not need to."

That takes Shepard off guard. "What do you mean?"

The Illusive Man exhales a cloud of smoke. "Treize truly was a Renaissance Man. I would have gladly followed him had he survived. Art, warfare, philosophy, even Mobile Suit design, Treize excelled at everything. So much so that His Excellency was able to create a Mobile Suit to rival and surpass the Gundams."

"What are you talking about?" The conversation is going somewhere, but Shepard can't tell where yet.

"Treize created a suit of power, one that reflected his sense of Chivalrous combat. It had no ranged weaponry, instead relying on a sword as its main offensive weapon like the knights of old. He was even able to fit a very particular system on board, one that only two living humans have ever mastered."

Shepard finally understands what The Illusive Man is talking about. But the Cerberus leader is not yet finished.

"After the Battle of Libra, Zechs hid the Suit very well. It took my people years to discover its location. The majority of the Gundanium my organization was able to smuggle out of the factory went into its repair, which was finished just in time for your arrival."

He takes another deep breath of cigarette smoke. "Take care Shepard. You have minimal exposure to the Zero system. Do not let the two headed dragon overtake you, or you will find yourself surrounded by enemies unable to distinguish friend from foe."

The Illusive Man pushes a button on his chair, ending the meeting.

Shepard meets up with Joker, who introduces the Commander to the Normand SR2 before taking the recently revived human to the Mobile Suit Hanger.

Standing there in a place of prominence like a menacing beast stands the maroon Mobile Suit, thought lost to history.

Epyon.

* * *

What'cha think of that? Epyon would at times compromise the critical thinking skills of Shepard and help explain some of the Renegade things Shepard would do in ME2. The combat characteristics of Epyon reward those who are aggressive and get in close, and that bleeds over to other things.

Finally, I want to say a BIG HUGE THANK YOU to everyone who has followed me on this journey. My first FanFic. Over 87k word written in just over a year. That's longer than the first Harry Potter book for those uninformed.

It just feels so great to finally finish this, you know?

Anyways, that's all.

Peace Out

Gunkatas.


End file.
